Going Solo
by Fire-Star84
Summary: Darkness is spreading, and more and more uncertainties arise as the unlike group of heroes gather to defend the world. However, can they hold together? Can they withstand the pressure imminent descruction and death bring before them? Amongst the heroes, some are unsure what side to take, if any at all. And one individual seems at the heart of it all. Contains many different themes.
1. A Night to Remember

aAuthor's Note: First things first, I must apologise for the lack of, for want of a better word, finality my other fanfics were given, and for the fact they've also been removed now. I am restarting from now on, and shall DEFINITELY be finishing the current stories I write. Also, any reviews on my writing will be greatly appreciated, since I am always looking to improve, and write more entertaining fanfics for readers. Secondly, I'd like to say that all non-original characters in this fic I have tried to keep as close to realistic as possible. So, enjoy! ;)  
Aiden ~

Going Solo

A Night to Remember

"Hurry up Kathryn! We're going to miss the timing otherwise!" Cried a boy running through a pitch black forest. Not far behind him was a girl of similar age, who had become distracted by something. At the boy's word, Kathryn hurried her pace and quickly caught up with the boy.

"Sorry, I thought I saw someone." She said between breaths. Both were breathing fast, they'd been running a long time.

"Well, we're nearly there now, so don't stop!" The boy seemed a little over-enthusiastic to Kathryn, but she paid it no heed. Quickly, a fortress wall rose up before the couple, nearly twenty feet high. The boy slowed to a halt, and Kathryn followed suit. "All right, this is it Kath!" And she didn't need to be told twice. Quickly she transformed into a black panther, rendering her almost invisible in the dark of night. She jumped at the wall, and proceeded to climb with increasing speed. The boy jumped up and down in anticipation. Suddenly, something hit him on the head, and he prepared to strike at it, before he realised it was a rope. He heaved a sigh of relief, and began to scale the wall. He took over twice as long as Kathryn had, but she didn't complain. When he reached the top, a human Kathryn greeted him, helping him up.

"Ok then, it's just the one thing you want me to get, yes?" She asked in a hushed voice. A light bobbed further down the wall.

"Yeah, and remember, straight to the rendezvous point when you've got it. I'll join you when I can." With a nod, she raced off, turning her back to the boy. In mid stride, she turned once again to the panther, and vanished from sight. The boy rushed off in the opposite direction.

Kathryn arrived at a well hidden campsite three hours after departing for the Black Fortress. Her return had been much slower, due to the enormous load she now carried with her. She entered carefully. When the coast was clear, she chucked her rucksack down and sat down with a huff. She sat there for what seemed like ages before she heard a rustle outside, and the boy she'd been with earlier pushed his way into the small camp. He was breathing heavily, and several cuts and scrapes on his arms.

"Oliver, what were you doing that took so long?" She asked. Oliver looked like he might not reply for a minute.

"I promised _him _I'd repay him. You know why. This is what I've been planning for a long time for _him_."

"Ah." Was all Kathryn could say. It was a bit awkward, since Oliver had owed this guy a debt for nearly ten years. Or so he had said. They sat together in silence for another painfully long time. Finally, Oliver began to leave, so Kathryn too, began to gather up her things… Not that there were many. She picked up the heavy rucksack, and chucked it over her shoulder. They set off at a brisk walk away from the camp. The sun was rising by the time they reached town.

Broadstairs was a small seaside town, often getting lots of tourism. But in the middle of winter, the town was pretty quiet. Oliver and Kathryn crept down alleyways and side roads, to avoid being spotted by anyone. Looming high above them skyscrapers stood proud, inside which, people would normally bustle about, doing this and that. Already, cars were floating above their heads however no one was walking on the streets below luckily. Oliver crossed a street, and produced a set of keys. He hastily inserted one into the lock and opened the door to a shabby looking bungalow, overshadowed by two, also murky, skyscrapers.

As soon as Kathryn was inside, he shut the door, and made his way through the small corridor to the living room. It was very dark inside, and dirty too. There was dust covering every available surface, and the place looked hardly lived in.

"I'm mostly away from here." Oliver spoke up, as if answering Kathryn's thoughts. "Sorry it's not much. But it'll do for now. We're only passing through after all." He put down his bag, and made his way to what looked like a bathroom. Kathryn sat on a couch, opened her bag and removed several bags from within. Each one contained a very generous amount of money. In total, there must have been enough for someone to have bought out New England. _Not that that'll do us much good like this. _Kathryn thought. As she pulled out another bag of money, something different dropped from her bag. As she picked it up, Kathryn saw that it was a book she had forgotten about. Five years ago, it had been given to her as a reminder of home. She opened the book, and a note fell out.

_I don't know where you're going, what you'll be doing, but should you ever feel the need to drop in anytime, for anything, you're welcome at mine._

_Aiden_

Kathryn allowed herself to smile.

"You know he used to fancy you at school?" Oliver had crept up behind her, and scared her half to death. Kathryn shook her head slightly. She'd only ever considered Aiden a friend at best. The news was slightly shocking, and certainly explained a lot. Oliver laughed. "Well, he did. We're passing his way on the way back to London, if you want to visit him?" Kathryn didn't reply, she didn't know whether she wanted to or not. "Well, I am. He's been one of my best friends for a very long time, and from what I hear, he's been outcast. A little visit can't possibly hurt now can it?" And that settled the matter. As long as she was with Oliver it wouldn't be awkward. "Oh come on, he probably won't fancy you anymore! He hasn't seen you in five years." Oliver reassured Kathryn, noticing the look on her face.

That night, they set off, making their way to the edge of town. They had not gone long, before something hard hit Kathryn in the back of the head, and when Oliver turned around, he too got hit.

Kathryn woke up to a thumping feeling inside her head, and found her hands had been chained to a wall. Next to her, Oliver was likewise suspended.


	2. Rules Are Meant to be Broken

AN: So, firstly, I apologise for the lateness of this chapter… I've been doing a lot of Graphics lately and family issues (my Grandad is moving house this Friday). Secondly, I apologise for the shortness of Chapter I. But after all, it is just the opening ;) I promise all chapters from this point on are going to be much longer, and make for a better read ^^

Rules Are Made to be Broken

In a cold, slightly damp warehouse a faint chill blew over the guards. Three stood guard to a door behind which they knew not what was hidden; only that no one was to get to it. It came as a great shock then, when they could hear pounding footsteps running behind the steel door. Immediately suspicious, the guards opened the door to the storage room, and cautiously stepped inside. Lifting their guns they slowly stepped inside. It was dark, but they dared not switch on their torches – surely the intruder would be ready for them?

Quick as a flash, a woman darted around the corner. At first she appeared not to notice the guards, before she stopped suddenly, looking very alarmed. She put up her hands immediately, and the guards seized her. After passing through several damp corridors, they took her to a circular room, with a thin beam of sunlight shining through the middle of the room. Under the light stood a lone chair, ominous with rusty chains hanging loose. Against the wall there were countless numbers of shackles, obviously waiting holds for prisoners. All the shackles were empty apart from two, where a girl and boy stood. The boy was unconscious, but the girl was staring at the guards. She looked underfed and dirty; she must have been here several days. The guards forced the woman against a pair of shackles, a short way away from the other two prisoners.

Then a scream could be heard. The woman looked alarmed. Several gunshots followed, and a deep roar could be heard. More screams followed. Guns clattering on the floor could be heard closer. Then another scream could be heard just outside the circular room. Then three men walked into the room. They walked over to where the girl was chained next to the boy. She looked frightened; rightly so. They unchained her and dragged her over to the chair in the middle of the room. One of the men moved in front of the girl. He wore a savage grin on his face.

He pulled out what looked like a small wooden stick. He pointed it at the girl in the chair and said "Crussssio!" The girl shrieked in pain. She writhed and struggled against the chains of the chair, but she was held in place. The man shouted again and again, and the three men laughed and jeered the girl together. It was an ugly sight. In the sunlight, the girl could be seen to cough up blood. Then the man with the stick spoke.

"Sssso. What are you doing in my ssssity?" His voice was raspy, and had a snake-like edge to it. The girl looked alarmed, but said nothing. "Ssssaying nothing won't help you! Crussssio!" And once again, the girl screamed and writhed in the chair. The rusty shackles appeared to be chaffing away at her skin. Her wrists were already raw from being chained to the wall. The three men laughed again, before stopping. The girl hung limp, panting heavily.  
"Any ansssswer yet? No? Crussssio!" And again, she screamed and writhed. The torture this time seemed to go on for a lot longer however.

Suddenly, an almighty 'CRACK' resounded through the room. A purple portal had opened in the middle of the room. Through it came a boy holding a katana, which was glowing purple, the same as the portal. The three men had turned to look at the disturbance, and now one of them was charging at the boy, who merely raised his katana, and the man impaled himself on it. Outraged, the other two also charged at the boy.

"Not very bright are you?" He taunted. The men stopped, looking puzzled.

"What issss thissss one?" The man with the stick whispered to his companion.

"He issss but dung. After killing Sssscorpio, he deservessss to die painfully." The other replied. They immediately charged at the boy, however their appearance changed. The two men now appeared more wolf-like, with dark manes and a more snout-like nose. They had claws instead of nails, and they moved faster. The boy was unnerved by this sudden changed, and hesitated to attack.

The two men used this to their advantage. One rammed straight into the boy, the other slashed his face with his sharp claws. The boy jumped back from the attackers, but they quickly resumed the attack. The men slashed and swiped at the boy. It was all he could do to stop himself being torn to pieces. He sustained the cuts to his leg, one to his left arm and three deep cuts across his back. The two men launched themselves once again at the boy, who in return swiped his katana towards the nearest man. The sword collided, and cut off his hand. The man howled in rage. In return, the other man raised the wooden stick, and yelled, "Avada Kedavra!" A green flash of light erupted from the end of the stick, which barely missed the boy. The man yelled again, this time the boy had to block the strike with the flat of his sword.

The man took his second chance. He struck the boy straight on the chest, sending the boy flying back several feet. The boy staggered to his feet. The other man had recovered from the loss of his hand and was renewing his attack on him. Now the boy felt rather worn out by the whole thing. He positioned himself against the men, and rushed forwards, just as the men did the same. The boy slashed at the nearest man, cutting his cheek. The man flinched and pulled away. This time the boy didn't hesitate. He swung his sword back around into the man's head. He fell to the floor, limp. The boy turned to face the other man, and jump, narrowly avoiding yet another cut. As he landed, he slipped on a pool of blood, and nearly tripped over the severed hand.

The last man charged and started jumping from side to side, hoping to avoid the boy's katana; however the boy was ready for him. A look of pure anger now over his face, the boy sidestepped the man's next strike. Only up close did the man notice that the boy's left eye had changed colour from brown to purple behind his glasses. The boy took the moment's confusion to push his katana through the man's chest. The man slumped to the floor heavily. The boy sheathed his katana and grimaced. Blood had begun to run down from his left eye. He looked around the room and made immediately for the girl in the chair. She had not looked up, but rather looked to have passed out. The boy removed the chains and lifted her out of the chair. Next he made his way over to the boy shackled against the wall. He tried to speak up, but the boy with glasses silenced him. After releasing him, he made his way over to the woman, and too released her. Then, with everyone released, he made his way over to the middle of the room, drew his katana with his left hand and made a slicing action. This tore open another purple portal with a crack, out of which a blue water-like like substance shot out a few feet, before retracting back towards the portal, leaving a hole into what looked like a living room. The boy motioned for his two followers to go through, and they did, but not without hesitation. The woman went through reluctantly, unsure whether to trust this new arrival.

As the boy came through last, the portal closed with another crack. The boy laid the girl down on the sofa in the middle of the room, and moved to the kitchen part of the room. The room on the whole was clean, but well lived in. There was a flat-screen TV displaying the news, but was muted. There were many pictures, of the boy with friends, some including the girl and the other boy in them.

"My name's Aiden." He called from the kitchen. "Of course, you already know that Olie, but she doesn't." And he made a vague movement towards the woman with his hand. He came back into the living room with a damp cloth and three cups of what looked to be hot chocolate. Then, the other boy spoke up.

"Aiden how… when… what…?" He started, but couldn't finish. Aiden smiled slightly. He had put on an eye patch over his left eye. Quickly it began to stain red. Aiden placed the damp cloth onto the girl's forehead.

"Well, there is a lot I have to tell you I guess, but we'll wait until Kathryn wakes up. She needs to hear this too. As do you Abby." He motioned to the woman, who looked very surprised that Aiden knew her name. "Yes, I know who you are. I've read into ARC's system files, and the anomaly reports are very strange… Good thing I kept the system running when it went under actually, there are some things you need to look at." Oliver looked bewildered at this, but the woman just looked amazed.

It was several hours before Kathryn stirred, and when she did, Aiden quickly hurried back to the kitchen. He came back with a thick, syrupy substance, some seeds, a mortar and pestle and water. He quickly crushed the seeds, added them to the syrup, and waited. When Kathryn opened her eyes, Aiden gave her a little water, before mixing the rest with the syrup. Aiden moved over to her.

"Here, drink this. I know it'll taste bad, but it'll make you feel better very quickly." And he slowly helped her drink the whole lot. When she'd finished, she sat up and looked around.

"Where the hell are we? And where'd you come from Aiden?" She said harshly. Aiden just smiled and sat in a chair next to the sofa.

"Sit down you two, and I'll tell you everything I can. Right, where to start…" Aiden looked at Abby and Kathryn, and then Oliver spoke.

"How did you find us? We'd been there a couple of days, but even then, to find us would have been very hard. We've kept out of sight for so long, and suddenly we're caught not only by some strangers wanting to torture us, but by you too Aiden. How the hell does that happen?" He sounded almost angry.

"How did I find you? Well, I never lost you. When you said to me that you were disappearing, I decided to track you, and that wasn't easy. As you saw earlier, I can create portals. I am always at least subconsciously aware of every one I create, because it requires an immense amount of energy. I created the tiniest portal possible, and it's been stuck to you ever since our last meeting. When I say stuck, I mean it's been trying to pull you through to my living room, but obviously, you wouldn't fit through something that small. However, I've been able to watch you closely by magnifying the portal at my end. That's how I've been able to know where you were, and I imagine, that's also how you were found yourselves. I noticed a bunch of strange folks lurking around my house; I guess they must have noticed the area you were in. I also noticed, Abby that several anomaly readings had updated just an hour before I came to find you three." Suddenly, Kathryn spoke up.

"Dude, what the hell are anomalies?" She asked, none too kindly.

"Erm, well they're kind of like balls of light that are rifts through time. It's hard to explain past that, but you should get the picture. The locations of the old and new anomalies led me to some conclusions, which have been proved, in the main, correct. However, there were some things I hadn't been able to predict. For example, the use of magic, and the cruciatus curse on you, Kathryn, was not expected." Aiden paused. He looked towards Abby again, and registered the look on her face before continuing.

"It's apparent, from the data that already exists, that one of two previous anomaly events are occurring again. The first conclusion I drew was that convergence was occurring again. The second, that took a little longer to hit me, is that Matt Anderson has returned, somehow, from the future." At this Abby, look shocked, angry and scared all at once. "Now, I do, already know that he is responsible for the death of Connor Temple, and that you would like nothing better than revenge on him, but before you do decide to do anything rash, let me tell you that it is possible for Connor to be saved. However, for this, Matt is essential." Abby began to protest, but Aiden cut over her. "Not directly, mind you, I would never have suggested it if that was the case. But we need him _alive;_ at least in the mean time. I do have a contingency plan, but the chances of it succeeding are so slim, you'd have more luck winning the lottery. That's why, until we have Connor back – who right now would be brilliant to have helping me with a problem I've got – we must _not _let Matt die, or become otherwise indisposed. Should this happen, well, I have every intention of helping you get back Connor, but I cannot guarantee anything more.

"Now then, onto my next subject. The use of magic has complicated things not only in the fact that it's another danger to us, but also to my team. Well, strictly speaking it's not _my _team, but I am part of it. The _Order of the Phoenix _is its name, and it's part of a long-standing order which once was the main group trying to take down Lord Voldemort. Not only was he one of the most dangerous people alive, he used magic to obtain his status. Magic is deadly, as you have no doubt found out today. The Order is trying, not only to eliminate those wrong doers who abuse magic, but also to achieve many other ends, some of which are overseen by myself. These aren't very big events and schemes, but should make the whole operation smoother. In actual fact, the Order doesn't even specialise in dealing with magic. The main focus at the moment is another problem entirely. But, I have been banned from operating within this area, for I am a subject of the problem itself, only they can control me." Aiden's appearance became grave and saddened.

"Control what exactly? You've shown you can use portals to get from one place to another, but that doesn't exactly have much to backfire on, does it?" Oliver asked. Aiden shook his head.

"No. The portals aren't the problem, and in fact, they're not a power restricted to just me. Anyone can use this sword if they are trained to. The real problem is this." And he took off his glasses and pulled what looked to be a contact lens off of his left eye. It glowed purple, and a strange mark could be seen shimmering on it. Suddenly, Aiden vanished, and reappeared behind them. Then, the floor of the living room shifted, and out of the floor, a sword seemed to melt and materialize in front of them.

"What this is," He said, "is a very powerful ability, called Geass. There are several variations of it, each with different effects. Mine, unfortunately, is the most destructive to the user. While it boasts great effects and promises great things, the effect on the user is great as well. Not only does it put a strain on my whole body just to keep it functioning," The sword began to melt back into the floor. "But it also causes great damage and pain to my eye, more the longer I keep it active. So, like this, my eye hurts just demonstrating it to you, but should I use it for longer, it can cause damage to this eye, maybe even destroying it should I go too far. The only problem is, no matter how much I destroy my eye, the effect can still continue. So in theory, I could kill myself by using it." He paused once again to let the words sink in.

"Aiden, they want to control this, despite the damage it could cause to you?" Kathryn asked, for once a tone of kindness in her voice. Aiden just laughed.

"Did I not just prove to you exactly why they want this power? I made that sword purely by pressurising minerals and ores within the earth below my house. Of course, I probably did it wrong, so it would be useless, but the principal remains. It is one of the strongest weapons they have against magic users. Of course, other threats, nearly as big if not bigger, have shown themselves now. However, this power remains able to counter every single one so far. I just don't have the ability to do it myself. They want to keep me on so that they can find a way to use me, control me, put the ability into their hands, taking it from mine."

"That's horrible though, putting you through that to meet their own ends, it's totally unjustified!" Abby spoke up, for the first time. Aiden looked heartened by the sound of concern in her voice, but shook his head.

"It matters not to them whether they kill people. In the end, all they care about is the results, not what it takes to get there. And while I may not approve of their methods, I am certainly trying to achieve the same thing they are. We might as well help each other. And if I must die to help make society a nicer place, well, is it not worth it?" Aiden replied, suddenly wishing that he was not bound to the Order at all.

"No! It's not worth it! If you have the power to stop them, then just do it yourself! You don't need them, not after you saved us three earlier!" She retorted, seeming angry by Aiden's lack of self appreciation.

"But that was nothing! They were nothing! I'm not as good as you seem to think! Besides, I barely used any skill there; they just were stupid enough to walk into my sword. If they had actually had some training in combat, I probably would have lost. As it is, they seemed very unable to fight at all. And look what a state they got me in anyway! I had a hard time beating even then! I am not able to stand up to the kind of threats the Order can." Aiden finished, hoping that the argument would end soon.

"She's right Aiden. You can't do this. Even if it would stop some serious things, using you like that isn't right; they'll just have to find another way to stop it." Oliver piped up. Aiden groaned. They didn't understand, he had to help the Order, he had no choice, but he didn't want to tell them why. It didn't look like it was going to work out that way however. "Why are you so intent on staying with the Order if they treat you like this anyway?" Oliver asked. Aiden sighed, and ran a hand over his forehead.

"They're forcing me to stay on or else they'll kill everyone I care about." He said quietly. "They've already got my sister; I don't want them to get anyone else." He faded to a whisper as he finished. Everyone sat in shock, and looked away. After several minutes, Kathryn spoke up, and Aiden immediately wished she hadn't.

"Who is there then, that you care about? We could perhaps, I don't know. We could gather them all in one place, and try to stop them being killed." Aiden stood up and walked out of the room. Kathryn knew then she'd said the wrong thing. She started to stand up, but Oliver grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Leave him. If you go to him now, it'll look like you're pressing him for an answer he can't give. Not without pretty much destroying the friendship you currently have. I think I did that earlier though. I wish I hadn't said that." He sounded grave and regretful. Abby then got up and walked out of the room. She walked down the narrow hall to the room Aiden had gone in. It was a small study, with paper everywhere. On every sheet numbers and equations were scribbled, most scratched out. Aiden sat on the floor in corner, with his head buried in his arms, his knees drawn up. Abby sat opposite, watching him for a while.

"She was eight years old." Aiden started without prompt. "I had known about my ability for two weeks, and so had they. The day it surfaced, they contacted me, threatening me that should I not cooperate, they would hurt my family. I thought it was some kind of sick joke and ignored them. They took my sister, and streamed to my computer live as they killed her. They slit her throat right in front of me. They promised they same would happened to everyone else I've ever cared about, unless I joined them. What choice did I have? My parents were dead, but that didn't mean there was no one left. Not many _are _left, but I couldn't let the same happen to them too." He stopped and looked up at Abby. "I promise you, I'll help you get Connor back. The threat of losing someone you love is bad enough. I've seen your work, and Connor's. I also know how much you cared about him. I want to help you; to remove the pain you feel. If I weren't marked, I could save Connor for you right here, right now.

"That's another thing the Order has done. A man called The Doctor marked me when he found out I could travel through time; which my portals can. He stopped me interfering with the past or future, which would directly involve someone's memory. If my plan using Matt fails, then I shall do everything in my power to remove the mark and go back myself. After all, rules were meant to be broken." Abby stared at him, unsure what to say. This boy, she'd just met, was offering to give everything to help her. Yet she knew of no way in which to help in return, or in fact, much about him at all. Aiden seemed to realise this, and smiled a little.

"I can see I've made you uncomfortable. All I ask is that you stick with me in these coming few days. I can see something big coming, and we'll all be forced together, or apart. I need you on my side in this Abby. The Order is out of its depth, and since you three have already shown your support – for which I'm eternally grateful – I want to be able to upstage it, and deal with this new threat with my own team. You've inspired me, and I want to use this chance to stand and hold myself against them, not cower away as I have done. But again, I _need _you Abby. Are you with me?" He looked hopeful, but also a bit doubtful. Abby was unsure. Just yesterday, she'd been back in the past, fighting for her life from the wilderness and the dinosaurs which inhabited the region. Now she would be fighting a new threat with someone she barely knew. Yet somehow, she felt she could trust Aiden. He reminded her of Connor, in a lot of ways.

"I'm with you." She said, quietly. Aiden smiled and nodded.

"Thank you." He replied equally as quiet. They sat together for a moment, before Aiden began to stand. Then, out of the blue, a tremor shook the house, and Aiden nearly ended up on the floor again. Water was leaking through the window and ceiling. The entire floor was wet. The house shook again, and again. Aiden was thrown sideways and hit the wall hard. He hit the floor with equal force and did not stir. Abby tried to steady herself and grabbed a draw, which opened to reveal a gun. Before she slipped, she grasped a shelf and picked up the gun. It was loaded. She turned into the hallway, and turned to see Kathryn knocked out, and Oliver held by his throat by a boy slightly smaller than himself.

The boy looked Chinese, and wore glasses. He looked and saw Abby, grinned an evil grin, and suddenly water enveloped her, suffocating her. She struggled for a moment, before everything went black.

AN: Dun dun DUN! So, once again, apologies for the delay. I've been so annoyed that it's not been done. But, hope you liked it. I know there was a lot of talking in it, but it's all important, and it got it out of the way at least. Next chapter should be interesting though, at the very least, and should be written a lot faster! Not as much to stop me writing you see. I hope to start an actual routine of uploading soon, so that you won't be waiting so long. I'll get back to you on that one ^^


	3. Revenge of the Phoenix

AN: So yeah, once again I must apologise for the lateness of this upload, but I promise it's a good'n. Hopefully you guys'll like it, and don't forget to leave a review. It will greatly help improve the quality of writing, and make it more enjoyable for you guys to read. See ya!

The Revenge of the Phoenix

Kathryn opened her eyes slowly. As she came back to her senses, she began to work her mind around her body, working out what was hurt and what was not. So far, her head, legs and left arm hurt terribly, and her lungs we burning. She sat up and blinked once, twice, three times. Aiden's home had been trashed, completely. The magnified portal was also nowhere to be seen.

"It overloaded." Aiden said in a hoarse voice. He was sat in his chair, looking beaten and sluggish. He had a nasty black bruise on his cheek, which had swollen, blocking view from his right eye. Kathryn was confused. What had just happened? She remembered a boy around her age walking in, but not what he looked like. Oliver was also nowhere to be seen.

"What-" She started, but Aiden held up his hand to stop her. He rubbed his hand over his head, and winced. He started choking, and coughed up some water.

"Listen, whoever that was, they were after Oliver, and I have no idea why. He must have had something they were after, and taken Oliver, who must have been the target, for good measure. If the portal were still open, he'd be easy to track, but like I said, it overloaded. Too much water must have tried to squeeze through, causing the portal to shatter. Either way, we're without a link." He stopped and sighed before another round of coughing took over. Kathryn also coughed, bringing up some water from her lungs. Aiden lent back into his chair and closed his eyes. He seemed worn out already, despite having just awoken. Abby was laid on the sofa, and Kathryn sat in the chair opposite Aiden. He must have helped them both up after he'd awoken. Abby stirred, but did not wake up.

"She woke up a little while ago, coughed up a lot of water, and then fell unconscious again. You've both been out a couple of hours longer than me, since I only banged my head." He tapped the side of his head with his fist to demonstrate. Kathryn looked around. The full extent of the damage was clear now. The whole house had been battered and shaken, and water had infiltrated even the tiniest corners. The ceiling was dripping with water, and there were puddles where the sodden carpet couldn't absorb any more water.

"We'll have to go somewhere else now won't we?" Kathryn asked, knowing the answer already. Aiden nodded his head but said nothing. A whirring sound suddenly issued from the corner of the room, and wind began to blow around the house viciously. A blue police box began to materialize out of thin air, with a flashing blue light on top. When it finished, the light faded, and the sound and wind died away. The door opened and a man in a brown over coat, beige striped shirt and red bow tie walked out. He looked around, before fixing his eyes on Aiden.

"Ah Aiden, you're ok. That's jolly good. Marvellous indeed. Well, we heard you'd been attacked, and I thought I'd check on you. Nothing to worry about I see though, you've got it under control. Well, I'll be off." And just like that, he was gone; the blue box departing in the same manner it had arrived. Aiden acted as if nothing had happened, but continued to slouch in his chair. If he hadn't been breathing, one might have presumed him dead, or a statue, but that was not the case. Kathryn stared at him, before speaking up.

"What the hell was that?! Nothing to worry about? What does he think happened here? Oh yes, we flooded the house for our enjoyment did we?" She looked furious and completely confused as well. Aiden lolled his head towards her, and stared for a few moments before replying.

"He's one of the Order. Don't expect too much now. I doubt he thought we were enjoying ourselves, just an accident." Aiden let his head fall back to where it was and returned to his passive state. Once again, Abby stirred, but didn't wake. "Kathryn, what was in his rucksack?" Aiden asked suddenly. The question confused her.

"What rucksack? He didn't have a rucksack." She sounded bizarre; a mixture of anger, confusion and a sore throat impeded her speech. Aiden looked at her, equally puzzled.

"Oliver came in with a rucksack he'd picked up off of the floor. Now you're telling me he doesn't have one? What are you hiding Kathryn?" Aiden sounded irritated and harsh. She looked affronted, but a look of understanding crossed her face, quickly replaced by a plain look. Aiden stared back at her, waiting for an answer, but still she sat there, saying nothing.

"I thought you meant that Doctor person at first. I never saw what was in his rucksack, but I know that whatever it was, he owed to someone. It must have been important, if someone attacked him for it." She whispered. Longing for some fresh air, Kathryn stood up and made her way to the back door, which was hanging on one hinge. She pushed against it, and it fell off. Shrugging, she made her way outside.

Aiden sighed. Another problem added to his plate was not what he'd wanted in the slightest. But it had to take priority; Oliver could be dead already. Abby stirred again. It was not convincing.

"Get up Abby. You didn't have to pretend to be asleep through all of that." Aiden said, half caring. She sat up, her short blonde hair ruffled and damp. She took the towel off of her shoulders and ran it through her hair roughly.

"I thought it would ruin the moment if I got up though. Maybe she wouldn't have told you anything had I appeared to be listening." Her voice muffled from the towel, Aiden nearly missed half of it. He just shook his head slightly and look towards where Kathryn had walked out. _Am I really worried about Olie, or something else? _Aiden wondered. He knew Olie was extremely clever, having gained a vast amount of knowledge from someone three years ago. Aiden knew this; Olie had told him personally about it. Aiden guessed that was to whom the item in the rucksack was owed.

Kathryn walked back into the destroyed house and found Aiden and Abby up and packing. Initially, she was confused.

"What're you doing? Where are we going?" She asked. Aiden turned when he heard her, and smiled. He beckoned her over. She walked over, and found the walls dry. Likewise the floor was no longer threatening to cave in under their weight. Aiden saw her look of surprise and pointed to his eye, which was bleeding.

"I'm practising. I'm probably going to need to use this if I'm to fight against the Order and whatever's coming up. As for where we're going, we're going to deliver that package. Oliver's not stupid; he knew that attack was coming, so he exchanged whatever was in your rucksacks. Do not look, whatever you do. It's important that this remains confidential, since he hid whatever it is from you for a reason. He must have hoped we'd just keep it safe, though I have a hunch I know who it's for. So we're just planning how to get there." He finished, and a light morphed into the kitchen worktop then reappeared in its proper place, working and everything. Kathryn said nothing, still intrigued and shocked by Aiden's eye.

"Does it hurt?" She asked tentatively; unsure whether she wanted to know.

"A lot." Aiden grimaced as his eye flashed, and the amount of blood running down his face doubled. "But I'm putting up with it. I'll need to sell this place, for money to support us for a while. I'm trying _not _to over exert myself. While not destroyed, this eye can regenerate itself slowly. Very slowly indeed. That's why I'm going to get some eye healing patches; apparently, they're very effective for any eye ailments." Kathryn said no more, but began to help pack any supplies that could still be used. Cans of beans and sweetcorn were packed, along with half a loaf of bread which had miraculously survived the flood. Fruits and vegetables in the fridge were packed, along with the cheese and jams. Next, the few remaining medical supplies from the bathroom were packed, and blankets for the three of them. Aiden added a large tent to the list of necessary items to buy.

After only a few hours of scouring the house, and repairing it, they all stood in the lounge, with the three rucksacks packed, along with a few bits and bobs added to Kathryn's fourth rucksack. The house looked as though it had never been lived in. Aiden admitted repairing parts of the structure with things lying around, but no one would notice. The first stop marked for them was the estate agents in town. After that, they would head for the Anomaly Research Centre or ARC for short. Aiden had salvaged an old healing eye patch from the medicine cupboard. While not overly effective, it had succeeded in stemming the flow of blood.

They headed off towards town at a brisk walk. The quicker they reached the ARC the better. It was a few days walk away, but Aiden had no way of paying for a vehicle to travel by. It only took five minutes to reach the edge of town. People stopped and stared at the group as they passed.

"Kathryn, do you remember how you got your Devil's Fruit?" Aiden asked, striking up idle conversation.

"Yeah, I remember it being given to me at a black market I was passing through. I had to pick up a couple of things, and someone ended up slipping me the Fruit. Why do you ask?" She replied.

"I was wondering if you knew who gave it to you." Kathryn shook her head. Aiden laughed. "It was me. At least I know I can disguise myself well!" They'd reached the estate agents now, and Aiden walked in. An hour later, he emerged with a bunch of documents under his arm. High above their heads, cars floated to and fro, the people inside going about their daily business.

Without warning, a large car directly above the group exploded, sending shrapnel, and several other cars around it, plummeting towards the ground. The force of the explosion hit the group, sending them all to the ground. People scattered, but even still some were caught as cars hit the ground. Two cars ignited, and one exploded as a gas pipe in a shop opposite the group was broken. Kathryn looked up. Down the street, walked a boy, who seemed to be smiling. He looked to be of Chinese origin, and wore glasses. Kathryn squinted. He made some odd shapes with his hands, and a great wall of water rose up between him and Kathryn. As she looked around, she saw he'd also blocked off every other street, alleyway and shop entrance around them. Aiden groaned and pushed a piece of shrapnel off of him. As he looked up, he saw the water and swore.

A small doorway formed in the wall where the boy disappeared. As he walked through, Aiden put on his glasses which had fallen off, and gasped. Kathryn had already recognised him.

"Andy…" She muttered. Abby shifted and sat up. She looked around and was shocked.

"Again?" Abby asked. Aiden and Kathryn didn't reply. Kathryn got to her feet and walked towards Andy. They both stopped around 50 feet away from each other. Aiden tried to stand up, swayed and ended up back sat on the floor. He shook his head, which rang and nearly made him throw up.

"You shouldn't have got involved in this Kath." Andy said.

"Got involved in what?" Kath asked, instinctively. Andy chuckled.

"A simple human response; so predictable, and totally unnecessary. You know exactly what. And now, I have to kill you for it. I can't say I'm too surprised. I always figured it would be me who killed you in the end." Kathryn tensed. "So, how about we waste no more time in pleasantries, and just get on with it eh?" And he started to form some more shapes with his hands. This time, water enveloped himself, and carried him backwards. Then, a blast of water sped towards Kathryn, which she barely was able to dodge. She looked back at Aiden and Abby. Abby had drawn a gun and was aiming towards Andy, while Aiden was still trying to stand up in vain. Abby fired at Andy, but water rushed forwards in line with the bullet. Very quickly the bullet was slowed and became useless.

But not for Andy. He pressurised the water behind it, and fired it backwards towards Abby, just as fast, if not faster, than it had originally been fired. The bullet hit before Abby knew what had happened. It just missed her heart, and skimmed her left lung. It went straight through her, and she fell to her knees in pain. Andy laughed. He sent several blasts of water towards Kathryn again, which she had to run to avoid. One clipped her right shoulder, sending her spinning to the floor. She quickly got to her feet, just managing to avoid another hit. A ripple ran through her body, and her body changed. Her muscles became stronger and she gained some dark blue fur on her arms and legs, and around her face. It was only a partial transformation, but she was still stronger, and was able to dodge the next few shots and remove crucial distance between her and Andy.

Then she was stopped by a direct hit from one of the water bullets. The force of the impact, removed all the distance Kathryn had just covered, plus several feet more. Aiden had finished tying his jacket around Abby's wound, when Kathryn landed next to him. She was dazed, but able to stand. She got to her feet, and Aiden tried to as well. He was able to stay upright but was very unsteady. Kathryn looked at him.

"I need to get close to him. I don't want to kill him though." She looked very torn. Aiden nodded, causing his head to spin. Aiden drew his katana, which was at his waist, just as two water bullets were fired towards them. Aiden swung the katana, creating a large portal in front of them, the partner of which was formed several feet behind them. The portal swallowed the two bullets, ejecting them out of the second portal. Behind the first portal, Aiden was busy thinking how to get Kathryn close to Andy.

"How far through water can you lunge like this?" Aiden asked. Kathryn paused for a second before replying.

"Not very. I'd need to be high-diving to get to him right now. Maybe if I'm fully transformed I could if you were able to somehow launch me at him." Aiden grinned.

"It'll hurt a bit, but I can launch you pretty fast. Just keep your head down, and hold your breath. The journey will take less than a second, but if you got face first, the force of the water will make you blind for sure. And could impact you brain through your nose too, which would kill you."

"Thanks for the warning." Kathryn had become very apprehensive. Suddenly water exploded over them. Andy evidently, had not forgotten them. The shock made their ears ring, but it hadn't hit them directly. Aiden conjured another, smaller portal, but refrained from opening the second portal. He removed his eye patch. It looked red and sore, but was still purple and the mark still glowed. Kathryn's body rippled again, and became a full panther, with a human-like form. As her features changed, her clothes tore and fell off her body. Aiden blushed and looked away. Two fangs protruded from her mouth slightly, and her ears had moved higher up her head slightly. Despite this, her facial features remained largely recognisable. She grew a long tail, which flicked slightly. All in all, she looked very elegant, and yet, she also looked very deadly.

"Don't move." He commanded, still looking away. Kathryn stood still as she sunk partly into the ground. A small tube-like formation rose out and turned Kathryn almost horizontal. At her feet, the ground rippled. "I'm going to pressurise the bit of ground beneath your feet to a point where it explodes. The force will shoot you through the portal, at Andy. If I've done this right, it shouldn't hurt much at all."

"And what if you haven't done it right?!" Kathryn sounded very worried now. _Then you'll be lucky to survive. _Aiden thought.

"It could break your legs, but that's in the worst case." Aiden lied. He wasted no more time. He opened the second portal right in front of the water cylinder containing Andy and pressurised the earth beneath Kathryn's feet. It exploded and flung Kathryn forward at incredible speed. She was launched straight into a body of water. When she slowed down enough she looked up. Right in front of her was Andy, his eyes burning red. He looked shocked at Kathryn's appearance, and attempted to move her away with the water. He was too slow however, and Kathryn was able to strike with impeccable speed, despite being underwater. She struck his chest and face, creating large gashes each time. She also punched him in the face before the water managed to pull her away from him. Due to the attacks however, Andy released the ability and the water dropped to the floor. Kathryn struggled to regain her balance as the water released her, but she remained steady. Andy fell to his knees clutching his chest.

"Aiden, I did not know that you're here, though I probably should have guessed." Andy said, gasping. "Since you are, I have a message to pass on. The Order is not happy. We know you're trying to run for it. You're going to be punished severely for this." Aiden tensed, and looked towards Andy, his eyes wide. "Oh yes, you're going to suffer very badly." A large car appeared right above Andy and Kathryn, and Andy grabbed Kathryn's arm. She looked surprised and tried to pull away, but as she did, the car dropped a net over her.

"No…" Aiden gasped. The net had tangled Kathryn, and as she tried to free herself, the car landed next to them, and Andy dragged her inside. Aiden started running towards the car.

"NO!" He yelled. He swung his katana, creating two portals bridging the gap between him and the car. As he dashed through, he swung out, catching Andy's arm. Blood flicked form the tip of his katana. Aiden turned towards the car, but it was already rising rapidly, and as Aiden tried to grab hold of it, it just passed his reach, and sped off. He stood there watching it disappear, before it turned behind a skyscraper and disappeared. Then he sunk to his knees and dropped the katana which was still glowing purple from the portal. Aiden looked towards the where the car had disappeared. Tears ran down his face. It took several minutes before Aiden realised that Abby had come over to him and was trying to sooth him. It made no difference to Aiden though. Kathryn was dead for sure. Andy also had Oliver, so he was probably dead too.

Two of Aiden's best friends were dead because of his selfish actions.

AN: So, pretty climactic eh? Well, I felt I had to make it up to you guys since the last chapter was mostly a lot of talking :L Well, this definitely ups the pace! I'm also going to start and actual routine of writing, now that my grandad's fully moved in. I have a lot of free time now ^^ So, chao!  
Aiden ~


	4. Something Worse than Death

AN: So, I'm very sorry, once again, for this chapter's arrival. This time it was my laptop. There's been a stream of problems recently, but _everything _should be ok now. I am going to desperately be trying to fit in a routine now. Considering I have two fanfics to worry about. Anyway, as always, please leave a review; they will definitely help me get better make the stories more enjoyable for you guys. That's all for now… Enjoy! ^^

Something Worse than Death

Kathryn opened her eyes. She was in what looked to be a prison cell, with a stone bench to be used as a bed and a hole for a toilet. She was back to normal, dressed in a plain black suit, which was too small. There was a potent smell of sewage, and the walls were damp. There was a blood message on the wall which had been smeared so much it was now unreadable. There was a bang on the door.

"Don't get comfortable, you're coming with us in a minute." Kathryn heard footsteps walk away. Anything could be better than this cell couldn't it?

An hour later, during which Kathryn had been unable to make herself comfortable, the man returned. For it had been a man, his deep voice had boomed across the room almost unnaturally. A bolt behind the door slid back, and it opened to reveal a tall, broad-shouldered man with dark glasses and a black pinstriped suit. Kathryn stood up. The man didn't move, but Kathryn instinctively walked out of the room. The corridor outside was black, with a slight sparkle inset. They were underground. The man nudged Kathryn forwards, and so she walked. The corridor seemed endless. When they finally reached the end, there was an elevator waiting for them. It seemed to be inset into the wall, and as the door slid back, it completely hid any fact of the elevator being there. The man pressed a few buttons and they began a slow ascent. The elevator was quite dark, and a slow hum could be heard as it rose. The journey didn't take long.

When the door slid back again, there was a whole complex in front of Kathryn. She stepped out tentatively. The man nudged her and again, she began walking. Along this corridor were several doors on either side, through which several torture chambers could be seen. There were saws in one room, and a tub of water in another. In one room there was a chair underneath a tap with a drop of water dripping from it. Every chair in every room was bloodstained; either around the shackles or just on the chair itself. Kathryn became very nervous at this point. At the other end of the corridor, another elevator was waiting.

When the door reopened, there were no corridors, just a big open area, within which countless people sat working at machines and computers, analysing data for things Kathryn couldn't even imagine. The walls were no longer dark, they were reinforced steel, and coated the dome shape of the room. Parts of the wall were being worked on, and some had the previous black stone instead of the steel. Obviously, this area had not been decorated yet. As she was pushed straight through the middle, she swore at one point she saw something mentioning Aiden's name. Aiden! What had happened to him and Abby after she was taken? Had he been caught too and was being pushed towards her now? Had Abby also been brought here? Or were they still back in town, wondering what had become of her? She was left no time to wonder as she was pushed into another corridor, this one also coated in reinforced steel. They came to a door, for which the man pulled out a large set of keys. He took no time finding the right one, inserted it, and twisted it with a click.

The door swung open slowly to reveal a chair with shackles, like the ones in the torture corridor, only this one was clean. Kathryn began to panic. As she was pushed closer and closer, more details became clear. On the inside of every shackle, hundreds of tiny blades pointed down which would piece the skin thoroughly. On a table next to the chair, at least twenty different knives were laid out, each one able to slice through skin as if it were butter. Then there were the wires. Apart from the ends, they were covered, and each one was connected to a different voltage level; the weakest being fifty volts, and the strongest being ten thousand. The thing that unnerved Kathryn the most however, was her name engraved at the top of the chair.

_Kathryn Solly_

The man stood her next to the chair, facing what looked to be a camera. Something struck Kathryn then. Abby had told Kathryn something about a torture being filmed and streamed live to Aiden. No way. They wouldn't, would they? His sister! That was it, his sister had been killed right in front of him. That would mean…

Kathryn lost control. She ran for the door, but it was bolted from the outside, and there was no other visible exit. She banged on every part of the wall, before moving to upset the tools of torture laid out. As she moved towards them, something hit her arm, and she blacked out.

It had not been long when she awoke, but she was now sat in the chair, with the big man stood next to her, looking down every few seconds to check she was sit there. Another man had entered the room; he was a lot smaller than the big man but well built all the same. He wore a grey suit and blood red tie. He wore an evil smile on his face. She tried to speak, but she couldn't find the words. Whatever had hit her must have been strong. The man walked towards her, and leant down so his face was centimetres away from Kathryn's.

"Well now, you're quite the fighter aren't you?" And he laughed. "Doesn't matter, we can easily overpower you anyway. I'm glad it's you though. Aiden seems quite fond of you. Maybe this will bring him to his senses. After all, you're very important to him, and in more than one way I'm sure." The man winked. His voice was smooth and bouncy yet deceiving, like how you'd imagine a snake to sound if it could speak. He clicked his fingers and two lights shot on, blinding Kathryn in their luminous glow. He turned towards them, still crouched over.

"Streaming live to Aiden now sir!" A man behind the walls called.

"BRILLIANT!" The man called back. "So, Aiden! How've you been? I hope the loss of your sister hasn't worn off now. It would be a shame to have a repeat of last time. And you've been _so _compliant. But we can't have you running off on us now. We're too close. So for your foolishness, you're now going to see the consequences of rebelling against us. This young, pretty lady here is going to suffer, quite truly. And you'll be able to see and hear every second of it! Don't you just love it! No? Well that's too bad." His demeanour changed from being quite lively to deadly serious. "We're not just going to kill this one Aiden. She's going to suffer. Suffer until she cries for death. But we won't relent; bet your life on it. Because that's what the price is this time. You're going to spend your life here this time. And if you don't agree, well, this girl's sanity is in your hands. Let's get started then." And he walked away. A panel slid up on the wall soundlessly and he walked behind it. It shut without a sound and the big man moved in front of Kathryn.

Now she really began to panic. The medicine had completely worn off, and he was fully aware of what was happening. She tried to stand up, but the man pushed her back down. She bit, scratched and kicked him, but nothing made him even wince. He yanked her left arm down into place, and rammed the spiked shackle shut. Kathryn gasped as the spikes pierced her skin. The hot blood trickled down her wrist underneath the shackle, before sliding out to drip onto the floor. Taking advantage of her shock, the man pushed Kathryn's right arm, and shut the shackle. However this time, he did it ever so slowly, to allow maximum pain as the spikes slowly slid underneath her skin and ripped through the muscle underneath. She bit her cheek so hard it bled. She vowed not to scream, not to cry out during the torture. The man flickered a smile. He moved onto Kathryn's legs, and slowly shut the shackles on both of them. After what seemed like an hour the two clasps on Kathryn's legs were shut, some of the spikes piercing her leg bones. He man moved onto her head shackle. There were no spikes on this one, but circles where it looked like something could protrude from.

The man wasted no time with this one. In a few seconds it was shut and he'd moved away. Kathryn's wrists and legs burned from the spikes, which had now begun to spin slowly. Her mouth tasted like metal as her cheek continued to bleed. The man allowed a few moments for Kathryn to appreciate the pain. She wished for nothing more than for ice cold water to be poured over her wrists and legs, but none was forthcoming. The man picked up a small knife, which curved downwards. Slowly he stepped towards Kathryn and placed the knife underneath her right eye. Not so close as to damage her sight, but enough to cut a blood vessel and hit a nerve or two. Ever so slowly, he pulled back the knife. It cut through Kathryn's skin like sponge. Kathryn dared not move, in case she made the cut worse. _Aiden can see me. _She thought. _I need to make sure he doesn't do something stupid. _Although the knife seemed to burn white hot under her eye, Kathryn did not move.

A long while later, or so it seemed, the man retracted the knife and picked up another. This one was slowly drawn down her cheek in a strange pattern. The more it went on, the more Kathryn found it harder not to cry out. The bloody running down her face was smooth and warm, and as it found her lips, she couldn't stop herself from licking it. It tasted salty and metallic. She wished she hadn't, because the taste seemed to intensify the pain. The room also seemed to be rising in temperature, and Kathryn felt hotter and hotter as time went on. The man continued to drawn on Kathryn's face, and when he was done, he stood back and surveyed her. On her face was the Order's symbol, which looked like a strange bird like pattern. Then the panel in the wall slid open, and the same man that had disappeared earlier returned.

"Like it? I'm surprised this one's been so quiet. The last one wouldn't shut up." He laughed. It was a manic, evil laugh that man Kathryn shiver, despite how hot she felt. She'd also begun to feel light-headed from blood loss. "Well, she won't be quiet for long." And he turned to look at Kathryn. He wore a grin that could only mean bad news. He nodded at the big man, and walked out of the room again. Once the wall had sealed again, the big man moved over and picked up an 'S' shaped knife. It ended at a point, and looked like it was meant to twist, rather than stab. Kathryn had no more time to think about it; before the knife was plunged into her leg so hard it hit her thigh bone. She couldn't stop herself from screaming. The man grinned visibly now, as if he enjoyed every moment of her torture. He began to twist the knife very slowly. Kathryn clutched the arm of the chair as hard as her hands would allow. It wasn't enough, she screamed again. Her leg and face were both boiling, and she couldn't think clearly anymore. The thought of anyone seeing her seem so helpless enraged her, draining more of her energy. Her wrists and lower legs felt as heavy as iron, pulling against her shackles and chaffing the skin underneath. She was vaguely aware of the man pulling the knife back out of her leg, causing almost as much pain as it had on the way in.

Kathryn woke up five hours later. Her wounds had been sealed, but no healed completely. Her leg wound had been left exactly as it was. She was still in the chair, but now the big man held another knife. In actual fact, it was the same knife, with just the 'S' shape mirrored. Kathryn realised what was about to happen too late to brace herself for it. He rammed the knife into her other leg, just as hard as he'd done the first time. And once again he began to twist it, causing immeasurable pain. This time however, Kathryn did not pass out. She had screamed, but her throat was dry and raw, and nothing much came out. The man put down the knife. Kathryn looked up and saw that he was arming himself not with a knife this time, but with the electric wires. He'd picked up the 50V cable, and was holding the two ends near to each other. A spark jumped between them, and the man quickly pulled them away again. He moved over to Kathryn, and slowly inserted them into the holes in her legs. When they finally made contact with the muscle, burning heat ran through Kathryn's body, paralysing her and scorching her inside out. She could no longer scream, but made the best attempt possible. She was locked like this for some time. It was too much to bear, yet she had no choice. When the sensation ended, she was left panting. The man allowed half a minute's respite. Then he moved and picked up the next voltage up; and again, inserted the wires into Kathryn's legs. This time, at 100 volts, she couldn't hold on, and passed out after a minute.

When she awoke, Kathryn was no longer in the chair; instead she lay on a bed, which regularly bumped up and down. All the injuries she'd received from the big man were being treated, and two metal clamps had been fastened to her thighs. A faint whistling could be heard. She could feel a gentle vibration through the bed. Kathryn concluded she was in a hover car.

"You're awake now. Thank goodness, I thought you might have fallen into a coma." A voice next to Kathryn spoke, gently. She looked towards the source of it, and Oliver came into view. She tried to speak, but nothing came out. Oliver smiled weakly. "Yeah, you'll have to wait a while to speak. You screamed so much you damaged your voice box."

They sped along in silence for some time before Oliver spoke again.

"You've never seen Aiden when he's out of control have you?" Kathryn shook her head. Oliver chuckled. "Well, you're very lucky. He nearly lost control hearing you being tortured. It was a nightmare. We had to come and bust you out just to be able to talk to him. It wasn't anger though; he thought you were going to die because of him. The Order is a very tricky group. In case you didn't notice, the leader never told Aiden where to go. Apparently, Aiden has never been shown the way in, since he's been in a locked cell every time. So, they would have been torturing you until Aiden went crazy basically. They know how much his friends mean to him, and took advantage of that to ease the path to unlocking the main secret of his power. You see, apparently, if he gets worked up enough, his Geass will take a new form. Even Aiden doesn't know this yet, I haven't seen him in a coherent enough state to tell him." He sighed. Kathryn tried to sit up, but Oliver pushed her back down.

"We're nearly there, just about ten minutes away." Whoever was driving the car had called back.

"Brilliant. Well, now we can get an expert to see to you. And Aiden should be comprehensible now. I'll need to telecom him as soon as we get there." Kathryn looked confused. "Yeah, we're not going back to Aiden's house. That's not safe. I've set up a small 'base' which we can use. It's not much, though it will definitely suffice." The car stopped, and began to descend. Suddenly, all the light in the car disappeared. They touched down, and the light returned. The door opened, and in came several medics, who cover Kathryn's mouth and nose with a mask pumping in some sort of gas. She blacked out within seconds.


	5. The Quiet Before the Storm

AN: Right, so in answer to the question that has been sent to me, yes this is uploaded in the right section, just because it's not finished, some of the links can't be seen as clearly _yet_. I can guarantee you that I have thought this through, and the categories that best suit the fanfiction are the ones I have set. The Code Geass bit has already been referenced twice - The Black Knights and the Geass. As I'm sure everyone who has watched Code Geass will know this, but a person's Geass depends entirely on who they are. It's not set to the absolute command that Lelouch has, or the memory adjustment that Charles zi Britannia has. The Avengers shall be referenced a bit later, I apologise if people are confused. I also have very little spare time at the moment, due to school and the demands set on me at this time, and am unable to update my fics quickly at all for the time being. So bear with me for a little while. I promise eventually, everything will be settled. _Promise. _So in the mean time, here's chapter 5 (finally). Enjoy! ^^

The Quiet before the Storm

Aiden watched the screen with Oliver's face on it, unable to quite believe what he was hearing.

"Yes, we're both fine, and we've got a couple of other people who want to see you too. They wanted to ask you a few things about the Order. You don't seem to be the only one hurt by them. Anyway, see you in a few hours. I've got some things you're gonna enjoy." And with that, Oliver's face disappeared, and Aiden was drawn back into his room on the cargo truck. As the truck sped along, Aiden began to feel anxious. Not only did he have no idea where they were going, but he had no understanding of his surroundings, for there was no windows or way to see where they were going, just the sounds that could heard outside. From the echo bouncing around of the truck's engine, Aiden could tell they were in a tunnel. That was all.

Luckily, Aiden had a way to keep himself busy on the truck. He was busy trying to move things around his compartment while redesigning them as they moved. The people who had picked him up had also given him several healing patched for his eye, making it a bit more bearable. The hours flew by as Aiden redecorated the small room over and over again, re-colouring this and changing that. It wasn't long before Aiden heard the engines die away, and doors slam. He opened the door to his room and peered outside. They were outside a cave's entrance. Instead of going inside however, they moved around to the side of the mountain base, and one of the drivers tapped an irregular tune on the nearby wall.

A circular portion of the floor opened up and an elevator rose out of it. The two drivers stepped in and motioned for Aiden to join them. He did. As soon as he stepped into it, the elevator doors closed, and the shot downwards. Although it felt that they were moving very fast, Aiden's feet remained planted to the floor. It didn't take long before the doors reopened and Aiden stepped out into a very homely place. The walls were coloured beige, with lots of pictures dotted irregularly around the room. These varied between shots of New York city and pictures of a group of friends laughing or joking around with each other. Each group always contain a shot of Oliver, and Aiden saw several pictures of himself there too. Some people he didn't even recognise. A kitchen backed on to the living room Aiden had stepped into, and in it, Kathryn was stirring something in a pot on the stove. She hadn't heard Aiden and his drivers enter, or if she had, she didn't acknowledge them. Aiden allowed himself to smile. _She looks ok. _He thought. He quickly berated himself for the thought however, since he knew Kathryn wouldn't have let her torture get her down. She turned around from the stove and smiled when she saw Aiden's group in the living room.

"Good, you made it." She said lightly. Her voice sounded hoarse, but otherwise cheerful. "I got hungry, so I decided to make some ramen. There's enough for another bowl if you want some, Aiden."

"Oh, please. Thanks." He said quickly. He sat down in an armchair which was low, but very comfortable. At the mention of ramen, Aiden quickly realised that he hadn't eaten all day. Kathryn brought him a large bowl, and handed him a pair of chopsticks. "Olie has chopsticks? I never thought he'd use them!" Aiden joked.

"Actually, they're mine. I brought them with me when Olie suggested that we all move here to be on the safe side." Kathryn said slurping up some noodles. As they ate in silence, Aiden took his time to observe the room more closely. He began working out the exact size of the room, and exactly what he would and wouldn't be able to do should anyone discover the place. That in itself seemed unlikely, considering the location. Kathryn finished before Aiden, and placed her bowl on the coffee table in the middle of the room. She crossed her legs and waited for Aiden to finish. It wasn't long before he did, and he too, placed his bowl down.

"Olie said you lost control because you thought I'd die…" Kathryn started. Aiden knew exactly what she meant. Oliver probably hadn't told her anything about it. Aiden felt embarrassed and looked down.

"It's not what you think. It's definitely not what you'd call losing control either. I don't end up screaming profanities and throwing things around the room, no. In actual fact, it's quite the opposite. I don't say anything, and when I do, it's usually rubbish anyway. It takes a lot to get me like that though, but with two of my best friends presumably dead because of me, you can understand why, no?" Kathryn nodded her head. She looked intrigued but didn't press the subject.

"So, when did you find out Olie had escaped?" She asked, changing the subject. This clearly made Aiden feel a bit better, because he looked up again.

"Well, the first time someone tried to talk to me, they had to talk to Abby instead. She eventually got it through to me that Olie wasn't being held by the Order, so I only had to worry about you really, which, as I'm sure you know, was kinda worse for me. But well, when I heard you were being broken out, I had to help. I told Abby everything I knew about the layout of the Order's hideout. She passed it on to someone I don't really know, though they're probably here now." It was then Aiden noticed that the two drivers were missing. "Hey, where'd the drivers go?" Aiden asked.

"Oh those two? Probably to their room. They don't like to converse with us much, apart from when discussing plans or that, which has happened once so far, and came to nothing anyway." Kathryn answered. "They're Kallen and Ohgi, the last surviving members of a rebel order, designed to take down the Order of the Phoenix. However, on one of their major assaults, almost everyone was killed, and as the order to retreat was signalled, they ran into a mine field planted by the Phoenix Order. This killed everyone but five. They've been running since, and watched the other three of their little band die. So now it's just them." Kathryn finished.

"Ohgi… Kallen…" Aiden muttered, as if trying to place their names. "I've read those names before somewhere." He sat there pondering the names for a few minutes, before it hit him. "The Black Knights! That was it! They were declared outlaws and traitors to society because of what they tried to do to the Order. I can't quite remember the other names. That's what we should be; The Black Knights, reborn!" Kathryn laughed. Aiden smiled. It was nice to have someone to be able to laugh with again. Then he remembered the last time he'd seen Kathryn, after her fight with Andy.

"I was amazed when I saw you turn completely into a panther when you fought Andy. I didn't think you could do that." Aiden said off-hand.

"Yeah, that was the first time I'd done it too. I mean, I've half-transformed a lot, but never completely like that. I've got a tail!" The tail seemed to send her into some kind of excited frenzy. Aiden laughed. This was the Kathryn he knew. Oliver was right, they were both fine. "The healers told me to try transforming completely every night, just to make sure I don't open up any of the wounds on my legs while doing it."

"Oh yes, I meant to ask you about that, how are your legs, I can see your face, grotesque as it is." Aiden teased.

"Baka, damare." Kathryn said. Aiden understood what she meant and laughed again. "My legs still hurt a lot, so I try not to walk that much, though I can't sit still for very long without anything to do, so I end up cooking, playing on the piano Olie's got here or reading. It gets boring after a while though, so I often pace the house. It's large enough to keep me occupied for about an hour." She huffed and sat back into the sofa she was sat on.

"Tired?" Aiden asked. Kathryn nodded. It wasn't light out, but underground it was impossible to tell except by the time.

"I'm still fascinated by my tail," Kathryn said suddenly, "I love it, and it's so… swishy and awesome! Look!" And she jumped up and quickly transformed into her panther form, gaining a few inches height as she did so. While she looked human standing on two legs, when she dropped to all fours, she looked just like a panther. The fur gave it away however, being a dark blue instead of black. Aiden noticed how her fur seemed to ripple down Kathryn's back as she moved.

While not pressured by a fight, Aiden took in more details of her appearance. Her fangs had become slightly longer since the fight, and she now also had two white blades form on her arms in the shape of fins. They were small, but looked just as sharp as her claws, if not sharper. She moved fluidly, and cast an elegant atmosphere into the room that awed Aiden completely. Then Kathryn began to chase her tail, spinning in circles as she did so. The scene was so bizarre, Aiden couldn't help laughing again. Kathryn quickly stopped and shot him a deadly glance. There was a glint in her yellow eyes that made Aiden feel uneasy, which also stopped him laughing quite abruptly. She stood up. While normally Aiden would have been a couple of inches taller than her, Kathryn now stood at least five taller than Aiden. She changed back into her human form and flumped onto the sofa.

Aiden said nothing about the gleam he saw in Kathryn's eyes, but pondered it over a lot. He couldn't be sure that it was anything serious, but the idea still clutched him making him uneasy. His mind was taken off of the subject when an alert sounded, and Aiden noticed a truck speeding through what he presumed to be the same tunnel he'd passed through several hours ago.

"That must be Abby's truck." He responded, mostly to himself, but for Kathryn's benefit as well. He started humming to himself, bored. Kathryn looked equally as bored. "Is there nothing we can do to entertain ourselves?" Aiden asked.

"Well, possibly. I dunno what you want to do though." Kathryn responded.

"I don't care, anything to get rid of this boredom."

"You could sleep."

"Really? You expect me to sleep now?"

"I'm just suggesting things. What about practising swordplay?"

"You've hurt your legs, that's no good."

"I can watch. It would be entertaining to see you get beat up a bit."

"It would be entertaining to see me killed, let's face it."

"What? No it wouldn't."

"Pfft, whatever. So, where do I go, and how do I do it exactly?"

"Here, I'll show you." And so they got up, and headed through one of the doors. It led into a large room, with several elevators leading from it. Kathryn approached one, and called it. The doors opened, and they stepped in. Kathryn pressed the number four, and the doors closed. It didn't take long to reach the floor at all. When the doors opened again, they were in a room filled with targets and dummies. There was a computer on the wall, which displayed settings of some sort. Kathryn approached it, and tapped on 'Swordplay'. It brought up some difficulty settings.

"How good do you reckon you are?" Kathryn asked.

"Not that great, try me on easy first, I want to see how they match up." Aiden nervously said. Kathryn tapped hard. "Hey! You really do want to see me get beat up don't you?" Aiden felt annoyed. He surely was about to have Kathryn laughing at him for a long time after this.

"Well, you need some difficulty in your life."

"And I haven't already had enough of that?"

"What about me?"

"Your sister isn't dead because of some stupid people out to get a power you possess!" Aiden was shouting now.

"No, but my brother was murdered by the same people!" Kathryn responded. Aiden was taken aback.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You couldn't have done anything."

"I might still be able to though."

"What? How?" In response, Aiden lifted his katana. Kathryn looked puzzled, but something clicked, and she understood. She was about to say something but Aiden stopped her.

"Before you say anything, no, I can't do anything now. I need to find The Doctor when we destroy the Order, and force him to undo the seal he placed on me. If that doesn't work, then I don't know what I'll do. I've made a promise to Abby too. I have a theory, but I don't know how to test it. For now, we have to wait. At the moment, finding The Doctor, and saving your brother go hand in hand." Kathryn nodded and went back to the computer.

"Better make sure you're top notch then eh? I don't want you messing this up if my brother's life is on the line." She pointed where Aiden should stand and he did. Kathryn pressed the green 'Start' button, and a masked figure materialised in front of Aiden. It was holding a katana, but backwards. It rushed towards Aiden, who had barely enough time to block the sweeping attack with his own katana half drawn from its sheath.

Aiden continued to slide his katana out of the sheath, and at the same time pushed the training dummy away. It renewed its attack on Aiden immediately, who jumped backwards to give himself the extra time to block the attack. Aiden was given no headway. It was all he could do to block the attacks. There was no room to parry or counter. Then the dummy tried something new. Instead of aiming for Aiden's chest, it attacked his legs. This turned out to be a bad move, because Aiden was able to dodge this, and launch an attack on the dummy's head. It blocked, and attempted a parry, to which Aiden feinted. Now Aiden had the upper hand, and began to push the dummy back a bit. It wasn't much however, and the dummy quickly regained its position. Soon, they were back to square one, where Aiden was being beaten backwards, while the dummy advanced, strengthening its attacks as it went. Aiden made to block a vertical strike, but the dummy was able to push his sword aside. During the moment where Aiden was stunned, the dummy stuck towards Aiden's unprotected chest. Aiden turned however, taking the blow to his left shoulder, instead of letting it kill him. The blade seemed red hot as it passed through Aiden's skin and the tissue underneath. Aiden fell to the floor and rolled away from the dummy, raising his katana ready to block another attack. This one however seemed foolish. The blade was easy to dodge, and allowed Aiden to grab the dummy's sword arm at its wrist. He pulled the dummy towards him while thrusting his katana towards its chest. The dummy also caught Aiden's sword arm, and so they were locked together, neither willing to give up any ground. Aiden began to twist the dummy's sword arm, while the dummy tried to overpower Aiden completely and push him against the floor. It seemed a long time that they were fighting, before a crack sounded, and the dummy dropped its katana. Aiden took the opportunity to strike at the dummy, which it foresaw and dodged with ease. Aiden stamped on the hilt of the dummy's katana, sending it spinning into the air. Aiden caught the hilt in his left hand, and winced as his shoulder smarted. He readjusted his position to allow for the new blade, and attacked the dummy. It began to side step and jump around, dodging the attacks this way and that. Aiden began increasingly frustrated, until he became so annoyed, he just threw the dummy's katana at it. Surprisingly to Aiden, the katana actually struck the dummy's leg, sending it to one knee as it pulled it out again. Aiden jumped towards the dummy, launching an attack not on a fatal area of the dummy, but its fighting arm. This caught it by surprise, and Aiden cut deep into its arm. The dummy flinched away, leaving its arm hanging loose, as if unusable. It then jumped backwards, and switched hands.

_Hell no! _Aiden thought. The dummy rushed forwards, and lashed out at Aiden with the katana in its left hand. _It's bloody ambidextrous! _Aiden roared inside his mind. He found himself once again being overpowered by the dummy, but fought hard to remain on equal footing. The main advantage the dummy had was that it didn't tire, and Aiden was beginning to wear very thin. Soon, he misplaced an attack, and the dummy parried, knocking Aiden's katana from his hand. As Aiden dropped and began to roll away, he felt the dummy leap over him. When he stood back up, Aiden found himself facing the point of his own katana.

"YOU LOSE." The dummy said, in a computer generated voice. Aiden now felt very annoyed and swore. Kathryn laughed. Aiden glared at her but said nothing. The dummy had frozen, and Aiden snatched his katana out of its hand. It disintegrated and the program reset. Aiden walked down back to the computer where Kathryn was sat and promptly plopped to the floor. After several minutes, Aiden spoke up.

"What did they force you to do?" Kathryn looked at him, confused.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I mean the Order. What did they force you to do?" Recognition crossed Kathryn's face as she realised what he meant. She looked to the ground and stared at it for a long time, not wishing to breach the subject. "Ok, don't worry, forget what I said." Aiden said. Kathryn relaxed a bit.

The door to the training room opened, and both Aiden and Kathryn looked towards it. Behind the door stood Oliver, who was smiling, and wearing a strange glove on his left hand. It had a strange blue pulsating light on the back. Aiden wondered what it could be.

"So _here _you are. I've been wondering where you got to. And some funny situations popped into my mind too. Are you a pair yet?" He grinned amused as he watched their reactions. Aiden's cheeks became bright red, and Kathryn had a quizzical look on her face.

"Of course not! What makes you say that?" Aiden said, standing up. He walked over to Oliver, and looked him over. Kathryn had stood up, but stayed back.

"Nothing, just asking. I mean, it's got to happen sometime hasn't it?" If looks could kill, Aiden's would have just then. Oliver just laughed. "I'm joking, I'm joking. Anyway, I'm guessing that Kathryn just got you to use the training dummies, no?" Aiden nodded, still fuming. "Well, that's good. You could make a kinda routine out of it. I did. That's what this is." He held up his gloved hand. "This will be important if you want to get Andy back, and will play a key role in it, because obviously, I'm the most suited for it." He grinned again, and Aiden had to smile. So he'd got back both friends he thought he'd lost to the Order and he couldn't stay annoyed for long. Aiden heard an alert go off in the corridor.

"What's that?" He asked.

"That's someone arriving in the vicinity of the hideout; probably Abby." Olie responded instantly. "Could you not be more predictable? Anyway, Abby will be here in a couple of hours. Do you want to see what this glove is?" Aiden nodded, and Kathryn had now moved over for a closer inspection. Oliver moved over to the training platform.

He held up his left hand, and the light began to glow vividly. Suddenly, a blinding light burst out of the middle glove, and Oliver began to glow white. His body ripple and pixelate, with each pixel appearing to flip over. When they finished, Oliver was no longer dressed in shorts and a striped t-shirt, but instead now wore a full set of white assassin robes dropping down to his knee. He had a white hood with the centre pointed like the beak of a bird, obscuring most of his face, but still allowing him vision. This connected to the main body which had an upturned collar. The back of the robes dropped down just below his knees, while the front dropped down to just above his knees. Around his waist, he wore a red sash, which held ten kunai and three smoke bombs, and could also hold small vials of poison or medicine. It also held the assassin insignia. The robes had a steel spaulder, where a cape could be attached, but at the time, none could be found. He wore leather boots which rose halfway up his calves, and had a pair of steel bracers on his arms. On the underside of each a blade was hidden which could be extended depending on the angle of his wrist, and retracted by straightening his arm again. Oliver also had one blade ejecting poison on contact, and the other had a gun hidden underneath, which was broken. He had a long one-handed sword, and a dagger beside it hooked to his belt.

Overall, he looked extremely deadly, but Aiden could not help but wonder why all of his weapons seemed to be close range.

"What happens if someone points a gun at you?" Aiden asked, half joking half serious.

"Well, then they learn what happens if you try to shoot a bird flying higher that the clouds." Aiden looked sceptical. This was either a very bad joke, or Oliver being serious. Aiden had reasons to believe the latter. "I do also have a gun on here, however it's broken, and I'm working on repairing it. It's hard, because I only have sketches, I don't have the original codex's to work from."

Suddenly, the entire base shook. Oliver spread his feet to retain his balance; however Aiden nearly fell over, and had to crouch to catch himself, while Kathryn steadied herself on the wall. Oliver swore.

"This is the second time this week!" Kathryn yelled. Oliver scowled, but didn't look overly anxious.

"It came from below us, they won't get anything there. It's mostly empty, and anything that _is _down there is junk. If they try and come up here, they're in for a rough time. It's a small party judging by the size of the explosion-"

"WHAT?! And explosion that big and it's a _small _party?!" Aiden yelled over him.

"Duh, around one hundred people. There's no way a force that small will break through. And yes, the explosion just caused the base to shake, that's all. It wasn't very big, it's a stabilising factor. It keeps the base from crumbling if I allow it to vibrate a bit." Aiden now understood why the explosion seemed so big. Oliver suddenly swore again. "Andy will be here!" He said rather quickly. Kathryn's eyes widened and Aiden looked towards the door instinctively. The door then did open, and Andy was stood there, his eyes as red as before. Aiden was right in front of him. Andy began to draw up water by forming the shapes with his hands. Aiden quickly grabbed his sword and moved to strike Andy, but a wall of pressurised water completely blocked Aiden's attack. Aiden had a moment to recognise his situation before being struck by a huge column of water, sending him flying backwards. He crashed into the adjacent wall, opposite to Kathryn. Oliver had disappeared. Aiden wondered where he'd gone, and looked around. This was a mistake, as Andy took the opportunity to hit him again. Aiden steadied himself using his free hand, and stood upright. He rushed towards Andy who built another wall to block the assault. Aiden ripped off his eye patch and instantly started to breakdown the wall of water with his own power. In response Andy reinforced the wall with more and more water. It wasn't long before Aiden's eye began to bleed, and he could even feel it begin to break down. The pain was incredible, and he had to stop. Andy seized his chance and struck Aiden again.

"See? You can't touch me! You've nothing on me now!" Aiden looked up, his left hand covering his left eye. He held his katana ready, but just the Oliver appeared behind Andy, who didn't seem to notice. Aiden got up and rushed at him again, swinging his katana over his head. It never reached his target, but Aiden did get the desired effect. Andy bought the obvious opening and launched a strong attack against Aiden. This was enough of a distraction for Oliver to reach around and cover his mouth and nose with his hand. Andy began to struggle, but couldn't break free. Very quickly he lost consciousness. Aiden initially thought he was dead.

"NO!" He shouted as the water all hit the floor and drained away through the two holes that had appeared in the floor.

"He's not dead, but this form of him will be in a second. Aiden noticed Andy's eyes were still open. Oliver extended one of his hidden blades and stabbed one of Andy's eyes. Instead of being pierced, the eye shattered into tiny fragments. Oliver did the same to the other eye, which reacted the same. "There, he should wake up normally now. However, I want to watch him for a couple of days. Then he'll be free to do what he likes." Kathryn started to protest, but Aiden stopped her.

"Don't argue with him Kath, he won't change his mind." Kathryn scowled at Aiden before storming out of the room. Aiden sighed. "You've taken one of her best friends and are not letting her see him. Don't worry too much. I know you have to do it. She'll realise." Aiden left it at that and also made to walk out of the room, before he collapsed in exhaustion.

So, it's not exactly been _quiet _but as close as XD Anyway, as I said, eventually all will be sorted out, so bear with me.


	6. The Development Test

AN: So, here we are, with chapter 6. So, I'm trying to introduce the Avengers part of the fic earlier than I had planned because I've had a couple of reviews saying that there's been no reference to it yet. So hopefully, I'll introduce it sooner for you, so it's more obvious. I hope to update at least once every three weeks or so, because of the IB having such a high workload. So I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a bit shorter than the others, but yeah, I'll make it up to you ^^ Enjoy!

The Development Test

Kathryn woke with a start. This was the third time she'd woken up, and now she refused to go to sleep. She got up and started pacing her room in the underground base, before she decided to go for a longer walk. Chucking on her dressing gown, she picked up her knife. She left the room and peered down the two empty corridors before her. She headed straight forward, allowing her feet to carry her, and thinking about everything she'd seen in her dreams, telling herself they were not real. She found herself at the door to the training room. After hesitating for a moment, she opened the door and went inside.

The lights were off, but someone else was definitely in here – the metallic sound of swords clashing could be heard. She drew her knife, which Oliver had given her in case another attack happened. Kathryn crept inside, wary of any stranger that might be intruding. She found the light switch and hit it. Immediately, the room lit up, and a training dummy could be seen looking for its opponent, which had evidently disappeared. Before she could react, someone had taken her knife and was pressing it to her throat.

"You really need to be more alert." Aiden lowered the knife and pushed it back into Kathryn's hand.

"You scared the hell out of me!" She said, hitting him. Aiden smiled.

"And you did the same to me."

"Where did you go though? I couldn't see you." Kathryn asked.

"In the brief moment that you and the dummy were dazzled, I opened a portal just outside the room." Kathryn stared at him. "Couldn't sleep eh?" Aiden said, breaking the silence. Kathryn nodded. "And let me guess, it was about Andy, and what might be happening to him right now?" Kathryn nodded again, not really wanting to talk again. "I know how you feel. I had the same feeling. That's why I'm here, fighting."

"But why fight? You could read or something, or walk."

"Why do I fight? I fight because I want to die." Kathryn became angry at this.

"If you die, I'll drag your sorry arse up from hell, and beat it before ramming you into a thousand ways of torture, making you wish you _were _dead." She growled. Aiden laughed. Kathryn had a strong urge to hit him.

"I'm not going to die now. I don't plan to. Just because I want to die, doesn't mean I will. I'm not going to try and die, because I promised I'd help you and Abby. After that, I don't know. There's nothing left for me. The Order stopped me from rescuing my last remaining family by killing her in front of me." Kathryn no longer wanted to hit him, but was still angry. Aiden suddenly jumped backwards, out of the way of a great sword. Aiden returned his attention to the dummy, which was feeling left out by now. The dummy proved no danger to Aiden, since he quickly finished it off. "That's the sixth one now; and not a scratch this time. Turn the setting up for me will you?" Aiden shouted across the room at Kathryn. She did so, and pressed start. As she did so, she began to transform. When she was in her complete panther form, she moved to the darkest part of the room and waited. The dummy was pushed backwards a lot, landing a few minor hits on Aiden, but eventually, was pushed within feet of Kathryn. When it was close enough, she jumped forwards and cut off its head with one of her forearm blades. Then she proceeded to attack Aiden. She felt a strange thrill as she did so, energy flooding her body. Aiden's eyes widened in shock, before he realised the threat Kathryn posed, and began to block and parry her attacks. She was too quick however, and landed multiple hits on him. She pushed him back, until Aiden was against the wall. Aiden dropped to the floor, and rolled past her, swing his katana on the way back up, but Kathryn easily deflected it. Kathryn could see the sweat forming on Aiden's brow, which was knotted into a scowl. He began to get more and more frustrated, as Kathryn was able to deflect each of his attacks in turn, and launch one of her own back at him. Kathryn decided that she was thoroughly enjoying this, and proceeded to try more inventive techniques. These seemed to succeed in annoying Aiden further. Just when it seemed Aiden was out of luck and about to lose however, he angrily swung his sword down. Kathryn, blocked with ease, but was shocked to find a lot more power behind it. A purple shockwave materialised out of Aiden's katana, which pushed Kathryn back a few meters before she was able to shake it off. Aiden looked dumbstruck.

"How did you do that?" Kathryn asked, barely out of breath. Aiden, who was gasping for air however, replied with a shrug.

"Took… a lot… out of… me…" He managed to say between gasps.

"I can see." Kathryn rushed forward suddenly and held one of her blades to Aiden's throat. "I still win." She said, and stuck her tongue out at him. Aiden pushed her away and looked at his katana.

"I guess it was some kind of energy blast type thing. It had a similar effect on me as when I open a portal, however when a portal closes, I'm refunded the energy. With this, the energy was lost, and hasn't come back." Kathryn watched as Aiden stood up straight, and appeared to regain his strength.

"You sure about that? Looks to me like it's come back pretty quick." Aiden looked at her, and was about to say something when he stopped himself. It had all come back.

"What the hell is this?" He said in wonder. He smiled and charged at her, raising his sword and swinging it with great force. However, this time the strike was not as strong, and despite being surprised, Kathryn could easily counter it. Aiden swore. He steadied himself, and tried again. And again, it didn't work. He tried over and over, to the point where Kathryn had stopped moving. _Dude, can you not think of something else? _Kathryn thought. When Aiden finally stopped, he swore again. He flicked his katana down to his side. This produced a cloud of dust to rise from where the katana tip pointed, and a moderate draught. Kathryn looked at the katana in wonder. Aiden swung his katana without moving, this time ejecting a powerful strike, similar to the first. Like the first, Kathryn was unable to hold it off completely, and was pushed back by it.

"Tch. Why can't you just die and be happy about it?" She joked. Aiden looked at her and half smiled.

"I still don't get how I'm doing it." Aiden murmured. Kathryn laughed at him.

"Well, then I still win baka!" She laughed again.

"Oi, do you want to go and see Andy?" This got Kathryn's attention quickly.

"You know where he is?"

"Yeah, I do. Olie told me not to tell you, but hey. You won't do anything stupid." Aiden wryly said. Kathryn wondered whether trusting her not to do something stupid was wise but she was going to see Andy, so what did it matter? Aiden walked out, sheathing his katana and turning left. Kathryn changed back into her normal form and hurried after him. He was just turning right down another corridor. Then they took a left, then a right, and carried on to three doors. Aiden opened the second on, and beckoned for Kathryn to follow. It was an elevator. Aiden pressed a button and they started their descent.

"An awful long way down, don't you think?" Kathryn asked. Aiden nodded his head. They reached the bottom and got out. To their horror, they were not met with a holding cell for him, but a laboratory. Inside were test tubes bubbling blood red, with organs inside. In an open space, in the middle of the room, there was a chair, onto which they saw Andy shackled. Around the chair were several needles pointed at him, filled with some green fluid which didn't look particularly safe. More tubes and pipes were stuck to Andy, and sensors indicated his heart rate and other attributes neither Kathryn nor Aiden could identify.

Andy stirred. Aiden, who had turned his attention to the test tubes around the room, looked over. Kathryn jumped, but remained where she was. Andy looked up and Kathryn then opened his eyes. They were still red. He grinned.

"So, you walked straight into Oliver's 'Development Test'. Well, only to be expected really. Anyway, I'm glad you dropped by, it will give me an excuse to kill you." He stood straight up, breaking the chair and the shackles bound to it. Then he made the formations for his water summoning, and sure enough, water began to rise. Not as it did before however. Instead, it made a circle around him, and after a second or two, blasted upwards, surrounding him. But sure enough, the water didn't do just that. Andy first focused on Aiden. Two water columns shot at him, before Aiden even had time to draw his katana. Before the water hit him however, Kathryn had moved in the way, after changing into her full panther form again. She cut through the water, disrupting the current it formed, and causing those columns to fall to the ground. However, Andy simply pressurised the water to explosion point, and fired at the pair again. This time, the water was a lot faster. Both Kathryn and Aiden were hit by it, and were sent flying backwards. Aiden got up, clutching his left arm, which had broken on impact. He gingerly released it, grimacing, and drew his katana. A dark purple aura could be both seen and felt being emanated from the katana. Andy attacked again, to which Aiden responded with a horizontal strike. This also released one of the shockwaves, which cut through the water like butter, and struck Andy across the chest. The strike knocked him back, but Andy wasn't fazed. Aiden felt the decrease in his energy dramatically, and sagged. Kathryn took the opportunity to try and attack Andy, but was met with a wall of water, which pulsated sending bursts of pressurised water flying towards her. She was hit several times, and jumped back.

"Do you know what Olie wants with me?" Aiden and Kathryn lowered their guard slightly and shook their heads. "He wants to 'discover' what the Order has done to me. When he has, he wants to present this information to the Chitauri army gathering for an invasion on Earth. Led by the Asgardian God Loki, they've tried several times, the first time being thwarted by the Avengers, united by the SHIELD agency. It's standard protocol for them now to protect the Earth. The Order is also trying to find a way to protect the Earth, and we need Geass Aiden. So you WILL give it to us!" Andy suddenly became enraged and the water became stronger.

"Well if you wanted my Geass, why didn't you ask for it?!" Aiden yelled. "You've gone about this a very bad way, I would have helped you, but you killed and hurt everyone I love! I have no sympathy for the Order, nor do I wish to help them in any way! The Order caused this itself. I don't know what they did to you Andy, but you wouldn't be saying this if you were your normal self!" Andy had paused during this moment, and Kathryn had taken the opportunity to sneak up behind him and lashed out. Andy was able to retaliate initially, however was over-powered quickly. He was unable to summon enough water in the space between them. Andy gave in when he realised he couldn't win in this position.

"You know, in every person there's light and darkness. There are two sides to everyone. Andy, what did they do to you?" Kathryn asked, not relenting her position. Andy smirked.

"What did they do to me? Nothing, that's what. The Order just showed me power. Greater power than you can imagine, and when I return with Aiden and his Geass, that power will too be mine!" Andy's eyes glowed brighter than before, and a whirlpool of water surrounded him, pushing away Kathryn. Andy rushed towards Aiden, who instinctively raised his katana. Barely moving aside to dodge the incoming blast of water, Aiden lashed out but missed Andy by centimetres. Aiden then swung his sword behind him and jumped backwards through the newly created portal, closing it almost instantly. Aiden was now a suitable distance from Andy. He pulled off the healing eye-patch and began to use his Geass. The room shifted, and spikes rose out of the ground like stalagmites. Aiden stopped them when they were taller than he was. As Andy tried to send two water columns at him again, the water was knocked aside by the spikes. Aiden smiled slightly. Then he noticed the left half of his vision was burred and tainted red. He put his hand to his left eye, which came away bloody. Aiden hadn't noticed that Andy had moved behind him, where there were no spikes. Kathryn moved to intercept Andy before he could get to Aiden, but wasn't quick enough. Andy had already covered Aiden in water by the time Kathryn got there. She moved to attack Andy but was haltered when he spoke again.

"I wouldn't do that. In the time it would take you to narrow the distance between us, I could have crushed every bone in his body. I'm leaving now. And I'll be back to finish your little group off."

"Andy, if you want to stop the invasion, why not take out Olie why you're here? Would that not be a reasonable thing to do?" Kathryn was pressing for time, and Andy knew it. However, he took the liberty to answer her questions.

"Of course, but Olie is currently too strong for me to kill him. That's why I want this power. The rest of the Order can't be bothered to deal with him, since they don't believe he's a threat. When I tell them that he thinks they have a way to control people, they'll have to listen. And then I'll be given the ability to control the darkness for sure!" He laughed. Kathryn was speechless. Andy would become stronger, and then there'd be no way to stop him. And if the Order got hold of Aiden's Geass, then they would have lost another battle too. Kathryn's pride would not allow it.

"We'll stop you, don't you worry. The Order will come crashing down." Kathryn said. Andy laughed again.

"We'll see. If you really want to stop us, you'll have to come to us." Andy had moved to the elevator while moving Aiden with the water, and pressed a button to go down. The doors closed, and Kathryn sagged to the floor. Her form returned to normal. _What should I do? Stopping the Order from giving Andy greater power is my priority, but how can I do it? _She thought. It seemed like she had sat there for hours, and when she got up, her legs were dead. She hit them a couple of times, swearing at them for being so useless. She continued to think about her situation as she made her way back to her room. _I can't tell Olie what Andy said. He'd freak out. I guess I'll have to stick around, and see if I can make Olie agree to attack the Order. He wants Geass to I guess, so it shouldn't be hard to convince him, but the time. I suppose I can tell him some stuff, to make him work faster. Then when we've got Andy and Aiden back, then I can leave him. But then where would we go? No, never mind that. I'll worry about that when I get there. For now, I'll stick to rescuing Andy. Then Aiden, if he's still alive. _She made it back to her room undisturbed. She removed her dripping clothes, and slipped under the covers. She continued to ponder her options for a short while, before falling asleep.

AN: So, Andy's not saved, and everything's going downhill now. Well, I hope it's got you hooked if you're reading it, or at least it's enjoyable ^^ I do try to please you as the readers so please leave reviews, they all contribute towards making my stories more inventive and how YOU want them.

Aiden


	7. Thinking Outside the Box

AN: So, here's chapter 6. So, hopefully it's beginning to take shape. I think it's going OK so far. I'm certainly keeping it going. I hope you guys like it so far too. I want my fics to be interesting to you guys, the readers, so any reviews on how you think I could improve would be greatly appreciated, as always. So, without further ado, enjoy! ^^

Thinking Outside the Box

Aiden woke up in a small room strapped to a chair. He looked around, but the room was empty. He shuffled to make himself slightly comfortable. A pungent acidy smell filled the room. Aiden wrinkled his nose.

"You couldn't do any better than this then, eh Starrk?" Aiden muttered, not expecting anyone to hear. But someone did hear, and a panel in the wall slid back to reveal several people behind a thick glass screen at computers. A tall brown haired man peer at Aiden from behind the glass.

"Geez you're a real pain in the neck Aiden. I really can't be bothered with this, but it can't be helped. We're going to test to see if your Geass will sustain a Hollowfication. If it does, we'll use the information to try and reach the Land of Kings, Ragnarok. If not, then we'll simply try something else. Either way, you'll become useless after this, and we can finally get you out of the way." The brown haired man said. His name was Starrk, and he wore a white hakama, with a black sash tied around his waist, with one end hanging down, while the other was kept short. The sash acted as a belt, holding his sword sheath. Aiden was unsure what was meant by 'Hollowfication' but he knew that if the Order ever reached Ragnarok, it would be bad. Yet he had no clue how to get out of this situation.

Aiden heard a whistling sound, and a small pellet hit him in the side of the head. Aiden felt himself get knocked out of the chair. How he did not know, but when he looked back, he saw himself lying limp in the chair.

"What the hell…?" Aiden was astounded.

"Your essence has been removed from your body. You are just, for want of a better word, a soul at the moment. You are made up of fragments of energy and data, so technically, you are still you. Most people cannot see you in this form. Only those who have experienced death first hand." Starrk boomed over the intercom. The volume had been turned up considerably. Aiden look around, and as he moved heard a clinking sound at his chest. He looked down and saw a broken chain where his heart would be. Suddenly, the chain came to life, growing several mouth-like appendages and began to chew on itself. The pain from the experience was immense. Aiden gasped and clutched his chest, sinking to one knee. The panel in the wall had slid back, and Aiden was alone.

Time passed and Aiden could do nothing to stop the chains. Every so often they'd perk up and chew at themselves, before dying down to rest for a while. Aiden was sat against the wall during his fourth day in the room. The chains had one more cycle before they'd fully erode. What happened then, Aiden had no idea.

"Very soon, you will start to become a Hollow, and we don't want to you to give in. You do and you're dead. Simple as that. Fight this next sensation, or you will die." Starrk spoke over the intercom. Aiden became very scared. He didn't want to die, and he didn't even know what a Hollow _was_. The chains suddenly perked up and chewed at themselves. After minutes of agony, the chain was gone, and there was just the initial like that the chain had been attached to. Aiden felt something pulsate inside him, and a thick white substance burst from his right eye and mouth. The pain to his mind was excruciating. Aiden felt like his very being was being ripped into two. Aiden felt like he was fighting for possession of his mind. The white substance had begun to form the shape of a mask and solidify. The painful pulsation raced through him again, and the ripping sensation returned in greater force.

In desperation, Aiden tried activating his Geass. While it managed to activate, it did nothing to relieve him of the pain. A pulling sensation dragged Aiden's consciousness inside him.

Aiden awoke in a world where all the colours were reversed. The sky was a deep yellow, and the sun and clouds were black. He was stood in the middle of a field. The grass was blood red, and the flowers looked odd with red stems instead of green ones. A strange, familiar smell could be smelt, and the whistle of the wind could be heard, but not felt. A strange metallic taste was also hanging in the air. Aiden was also not alone. A woman in black armour with a flowing black cape stood opposite him. She had blazing violet eyes, and streaming starlight hair. Her bracers formed crescent moon shapes at her wrists, and the crescent pattern followed throughout the design of her armour. She did not look in any way weak or vulnerable, but looked well built and somewhat deadly.

"Aiden, do you know where you are?" Her voice was deep and echoed slightly around the field. Aiden hesitantly shook his head. "You are at the centre of your being. It reflects your current state of being. If you are in disarray then this place is too. Look up to the sky." Aiden did as he was told. He didn't think disobeying this person would do him any good. As he did, he noticed that the sky had become cracked, and black light was pouring through. "Those cracks are there because _you _are cracking. Your being is being overtaken by this Hollowfication. To stop it, you must gain a power, a dangerous, but very strong power. There will be big consequences however. Starrk is after your Geass, and if you survive this, you will have to give it to him." Aiden was shocked, and so many questions had begun to fill his mind. In the end, he settled with simple first.

"Who are you?" He asked. The woman laughed.

"I thought you might ask that. I am part of you. Not with you at the moment, but I will be, in time. My name is ." Aiden became confused.

"Sorry, what?" Aiden asked. The woman sighed.

"It seems you cannot hear me yet. Next time I see you, I shall tell you my name again. I hope you will be able to listen then. For now, I present to you a challenge to save yourself. Over a million lights are now falling from the sky. One of these represents my power I shall lend you. Remember, I am part of you. If you can find yourself among these lights, then you can save yourself. Well don't just stand there, go!" Aiden looked up. The woman was right. Countless spots of light were falling from the sky. They were every colour of the spectrum. However, one stood out to Aiden. A deep blue light floating down slowly, flitting around slightly stood out. The sky cracked further, and shards of the sky began to fall in.

"Hurry Aiden! You're about to lose yourself completely!" Aiden made up his mind. He reached up and grasped the light, nearly missing it. Aiden felt a light sensation flow through him. The sky instantly fixed itself, and the cracks sealed with a blue light which slowly faded.

"Did I do it?" Aiden asked. The woman smiled and nodded.

"I see I didn't choose too badly." She winked at Aiden. Aiden felt himself expand and found himself back in his soul body. Several people were in the room with him, about to stab him from all angles to kill him. Filled with the light sensation, he quickly jumped out of the way, sailing over all of them. His power amazed him. The others in the room looked up as he jumped. When he landed, he realised something was on his face. The fact that it hadn't fallen off yet suggested that it was stuck. Instead, Aiden punched the mask, shattering it, and shards of white fell off his face. The men in the room looked stunned at him. Aiden picked off the last bit of the mask which covered his left eye and forehead, and threw it to the feet of the closest men. The shuffled backwards, and as the door opened, they scrambled to get through it. Starrk walked in after they'd left, and Aiden just stared at him, loathing Starrk for the ordeal he'd just been put through.

"You little piece of sh-" Aiden began, but Starrk overrode him.

"Since you survived, as troublesome as it is, I will now have you use your Geass. Don't make me have to force you. I really loath fighting, especially when you're unarmed." Aiden stood facing him; Aiden's clothes had changed. He had been wearing some casual clothes, black skinny jeans, a t-shirt, a jacket over the top. Now he was wearing some blue baggy jeans with a red shirt, and a heavy black coat which was left unfastened. At his belt was a sheath for a katana. The katana itself was missing. The sheath was decorated in some strange patterns which seemed to give off a faint glow.

Starrk seemed to pay no attention to this change. Aiden was still seething, however he could not think of a way out without using his Geass, so he complied. Instead of just activating the Geass however, Aiden began to attack Starrk, liquefying the ground beneath Starrk and causing spikes to erupt from the walls towards him. Using the moment's distraction Aiden presumed this would give him, he ran for the door, moving faster than he could before, and making it out without being stopped. Then he ran, not knowing exactly which way he was headed, but made for the general direction Aiden knew as 'out'. He was forced to stop when Starrk appeared in front of him, with his sword drawn. Aiden swore under his breath, and forced a wall up between them. Then he turned around and sped the other way. The corridor had no turnings or doors in it for Aiden to use to escape. Instead he was confronted by Starrk again. Aiden drew up another wall between them, and ran back the way he had come, until he met his previous wall, untouched by Starrk. Aiden turned around, knowing what he'd find. Starrk was standing over him, sword tip pointed to Aiden's head.

"Looks like you can use it faster and with more potency now. Not by much, but still, that's a nice bonus. Now, I will take it from you. If you resist, I will kill you and still take it from you. I've had enough playing around now." Starrk murmured quietly, so Aiden could just hear him. Starrk pointed his sword tip to Aiden's left eye. Aiden backed into the wall. Starrk moved in closer, sword still pointed to Aiden's eye. Then, Starrk plunged the sword into Aiden's eye.

Aiden woke up screaming. His throat was hoarse, and his left eye ached incredibly. When he moved to rub it however, Aiden began to freak out. His entire eye was gone. There was nothing there. He gingerly made to touch his eye socket again. He could not see his finger, which scared him, but also his finger went straight past his eye lid and into the eye socket itself. Aiden jerked his hand back. The feeling made him throw up. Aiden was panicking, and didn't know what to do. It didn't take long before Aiden passed out again.

When he woke this time, Aiden felt slightly calmer, but was still upset by the loss of his eye.

"Hey, you ok? Seems like you're having a rough time." Aiden whipped around, and found he was in a small cell, sat on one of two beds, the other being occupied by a ginger haired man, who looked a couple of years older than Aiden. He was wearing dark blue jeans, a grey t-shirt and a black winter jacket. He had a necklace which looked like half a key. He had an arrogant air about him, but also kind and strong-willed. Under his bed was a black sheath which, like Aiden's, was empty. Aiden looked at him for a moment before responding.

"I'm fine. Who are you?" Aiden guarded his tone, but still sounded cautious and interrogative.

"My name's Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki. They wanted your Geass I take it?" Ichigo said casually. Aiden widened his eye in surprise.

"How did you know about Geass?"

"They did the same thing to the guy in the next cell over. Except his Geass was more advanced, so they had to remove both his eyes. They replaced them though. Dunno about you though. Either way, it's wrong to force people to give up something like that." Ichigo answered. Aiden wondered who the person in the next cell could be.

"Who was the other guy?"

"He's called Lelouch, or from what I can hear. I think he's French, though his English is impeccable." Another shocking bit of information. Lelouch was the leader of the Black Knights originally, supposedly dead but it surfaced that he survived murder when he was found by the Order when Aiden was small. Aiden could not understand why he was still alive. He let it drop however, and leading against the wall, bringing up one knee onto the bed, letting the other hang over the side. He made to rub his left eye, but stopped himself. It itched, but Aiden knew he'd be sick if he tried to rub his eye again.

"I can't imagine what it's like to lose an eye." Ichigo muttered.

"Scary, and sickening. But I'll get over it. What did they take from you?" Aiden responded, wondering if he was supposed to have heard him. Ichigo looked at him.

"Me? The power they took from me has been given to you, in an indirect way. You didn't want it I know, but now you have it."

"And what power is that?" Aiden asked, confused. The Order hadn't given him any powers.

"My hollowfication. They took it from me. They had to invade every fibre of my being to get it out, but they got it. Well, I say they, who I really mean is Starrk. He's doing all this personally it seems. And I thought the Espada were finished after the second Death God war. However, Starrk survived somehow, and now he wants to see the world overturned again. I won't let him do that."

"You're not alone. I never introduced myself did I?" Ichigo shook his head. "My name's Aiden."

"Strange name." Ichigo casually said. Aiden shrugged it off. It _was _a strange name. "How did you survive the hollowfication process?" Aiden looked puzzled.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, when you were in that room, most people would have turned straight into hollows. How did you survive?" Ichigo explained

"I don't really know. I felt like I was taken into myself, and met someone who's name I don't recall hearing. She told me I had to find the one light that was me, before the world that was me crumbled to nothing. Does that make any sense?" Ichigo nodded.

"Very similar to me then. That person you met, do you know who she was?" Aiden shook his head. "If I'm not mistaken, she was your sword. I remember seeing someone carrying a sword to the armoury, and it looked very similar to Starrk's and mine. In style anyway. Our swords are things which have feelings and emotions, becoming a separate part of us, lending us their power, and in return, borrowing ours to help us. The fact you couldn't hear her name, means you haven't realised the existence of your sword yet. Try listening to her next time. She's probably been calling to you for some time. The only reason you lived through that hollowfication is because of her, and that was a miracle in itself, you being so far apart and all. Anyway, you have any idea how to get out?" Ichigo finished, leaving Aiden feeling bewildered. He shook his head plainly, struggling to get his head around the ideas. Ichigo got up. "Guess I'll have to try something new. Been practising for a while, but I don't know how this will go." He moved towards the door. He pointed his finger at the lock, and a small ball appeared in front of it. After a moment, the ball fired, becoming a ray of blue light, which incinerated the lock. Ichigo grinned.

"You really are an idiot Starrk." He mumbled. He turned to Aiden. "You know when I said they'd taken my hollowfication? Well, they didn't really take it. I've still got it." Ichigo smiled. Aiden got up, expecting them to leave. Ichigo didn't move.

"Erm, shall we go then?" Aiden asked hesitantly. Ichigo laughed.

"Are you insane? They'd kill us before we got five feet. This is a prison cell after all, not a hotel suit. This place is guarded to hell, even if it seems empty. That was just a test. Next time we will though, I promise." Aiden was unconvinced. He made to move to the door, but heard footsteps echoing on the floor. He moved away and back to his bed. Ichigo did the same, lying down with his hands behind his head.

The door opened to reveal a very tall, very muscular man. He pointed to Aiden, then over his shoulder. Aiden took this to mean he was leaving. Ichigo gave him a puzzled look, and Aiden shrugged. He got up and walked out the door. The man shut the door behind him, and when Aiden turned around, he saw the lock reform, just like new. The man then pushed Aiden along, who stumbled, only just managing to steady himself. It wasn't long before they reached an elevator which took the man and Aiden straight to the medical floor.

There, the man pushed Aiden to an empty room with a woman who looked deeply regretful when she saw Aiden's eye. Aiden remembered her to be called Natasha. She had been nice whenever Aiden had seen her before, if a bit detached. He smiled at her, and she tried to smile back, but it didn't really come out right. When in the room, the big man left and shut the door behind him.

"Can snakes hear the dust?" Aiden asked. Natasha shook her head. Aiden relaxed a little. "Good. Glad you remembered that." He smiled.

"I knew you'd be back, so I did my best to remember all our little secrets." She said. He voice had a nervous edge to it, which Aiden didn't like.

"What's wrong?" He asked. Natasha shook her head. Aiden repeated the question. She looked at him, fear glazing her eyes.

"They've got Clint." She whispered. Aiden didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry." Aiden couldn't think of anything else. Natasha shook her head again.

"Don't be, you couldn't have done anything." Aiden couldn't respond. His mind had gone blank. Natasha's loss made conversing now seem very awkward. Eventually, he struck upon asking why he was here. Apparently, he was getting his eye replaced.

"At least the Order has a little bit of dignity then." Aiden grunted as he laid on the bed in the middle of the room. He instantly wished he'd said nothing when he saw the look on Natasha's face. She made Aiden breath in a gas which would knock him out, which didn't take long, before setting to work.

When Aiden woke up, his vision had expanded. He instantly made to rub his left eye, and when he felt that it was there, elation filled his body. He was glad to have it back. What he didn't notice at first was that the door was open, and Ichigo was missing. When Ichigo returned, Aiden realised what he'd missed. Before he could ask any questions, Aiden was handed his katana.

"We're leaving _now_." Ichigo growled. Aiden didn't argue. He got up, and reattached his sheath to his belt. Then he put away his katana and followed Ichigo out of the cell.

"Hold on, you said we'd be caught within seconds if we left, how come not now?" Aiden asked. Ichigo turned to face him. His face deadly serious, Aiden wasn't sure what had happened, but he became afraid.

"Your friends are attacking the Order. And in the distraction, I thought we'd leave to go and help. Not that I agree with the fighting, but it has to be done." Aiden was stunned into silence. This was the second time in a week that Aiden's friends had attacked the Order. Last time they barely made it out alive, and Aiden had been in a room next to the entrance of the hideout. Now Aiden was much further in, and the Order more prepared. Aiden began to feel sick when he thought of the likely outcome.

"We need to move fast." Aiden said. Ichigo nodded and set about freeing the other prisoners. There was an explosion over head, and the corridor shook slightly. Ichigo and Aiden exchanged looks. Aiden began praying that Kathryn and Oliver hadn't already died, let alone entered the fight. They reached the last cells fairly quickly; the corridor had been short. The last prisoner was Lelouch. Aiden looked at him.

"So, you've finally arrived, Aiden. I've been told about you. Shame you had to lose your Geass already, I had wanted to see it. Never mind. Shall we be off? And can we stop by the armoury? I have something to pick up." Lelouch had a clear pronunciation of his words, and sounded intimidating, despite his fragile appearance. He was dressed in a purple suit, with a darker purple cloak, the rim lined with yellow, which he could wrap in front of him. They made it to the armoury with no problems whatsoever. Lelouch went in, and came back out within a matter of seconds. He was carrying a small key. Aiden wondered why such a thing was in the armoury, but said nothing. They hurried to the entrance floor, and when they got there, the sight was more than Aiden had expected. Every Order member was fighting. The group fighting the Order looked immeasurably smaller, but had ownership of several Knightmare frames, humanoid tanks which were incredibly mobile and destructive. The Order was able to defend itself effectively however, and the small group looked out-matched. Ichigo said exactly what Aiden was thinking.

"This is war."

AN: So what do you think? Is it getting good? I hope so. Anyway, leave reviews with your ideas, and I'll gladly take them into consideration for subsequent chapters. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and will update with chapter seven ASAP.  
Aiden ~


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